Lawsuit against justice gets mixed reception

TRENTON - A Superior Court judge indicated yesterday that she believed many of the claims in a civil-rights lawsuit against state Supreme Court Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto are without merit, but held out the possibility of allowing the suit to move forward on at least one key point.

Linda Feinberg said that she would issue a ruling by Wednesday but that she was leaning toward dismissing several claims, including those that name the State of New Jersey as a defendant and that raise age discrimination as a factor.

Feinberg's comments came after an hourlong hearing in which lawyers again argued the central issues in the suit, filed by a former high school football teammate of Rivera-Soto's son.

In the suit, former Haddonfield Memorial High School student Conor Larkin argues that his rights to an education and due process were violated when Rivera-Soto interceded in a dispute between Larkin and the judge's son, Christian.

Feinberg said yesterday that she was "struggling with the issue" of Rivera-Soto's using the "power and force of his position in a private setting when it may have consequences."

The judge's comments went to the heart of one of the issues raised by Larkin's attorney, Clifford Van Syoc. A ruling in Larkin's favor on that issue could allow the suit to proceed to trial.

In a lawsuit filed in February and in complaints added over the last several months, Van Syoc has argued that Rivera-Soto used his position as a Supreme Court justice to intimidate school officials and police into taking action against Larkin after the teenager allegedly head-butted Rivera-Soto's son during football practice in the fall of 2006.

Larkin was a senior and Christian Rivera-Soto a sophomore at the time.

Van Syoc argued that while making phone calls and complaining to authorities, Rivera-Soto repeatedly referred to his position as a Supreme Court justice.

He said the references and the fact that the justice left his business card with many people was like a "sheriff flashing his badge."

Rivera-Soto's lawyer, Bruce McMoran, said his client "was simply acting as a father" when he complained to school officials and police about what he believed was the bullying of his son.

The arguments were a rehash of motions filed in the case, and Feinberg's comments yesterday echoed sentiments she first expressed a month ago after another hearing.

Van Syoc, as he left the courtroom, said he was less than confident about Feinberg's disposition of the suit, and predicted that he would soon be arguing the issues in Appellate Court.

Asked about the judge's indication that at least one of his issues might prevail, he quipped: "It's better than poking yourself with a sharp stick."

Larkin, who sat through the hearing, declined to comment.

"It's all been said," said Larkin, now a student at Ohio University.

Rivera-Soto, 54, appointed to the high court in 2004, was censured by his peers in July 2007. The Supreme Court found that his actions created "an appearance of impropriety."