{"id":21849,"date":"2023-03-24T05:39:29","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T09:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/?p=21849"},"modified":"2023-03-24T06:22:53","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T10:22:53","slug":"judge-ducey-former-brick-mayor-dons-robe-begins-new-chapter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/2023\/03\/judge-ducey-former-brick-mayor-dons-robe-begins-new-chapter\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Ducey: Former Brick Mayor Dons Robe, Begins New Chapter"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Superior<\/a>

Superior Court Judge John Ducey at his swearing-in ceremony, March 23, 2023. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

From friendly ribbing to emotional recollections of life\u2019s journey, Brick Township\u2019s former mayor began a new chapter Thursday, being sworn in as a Superior Court judge in Ocean County\u2019s historic courtroom in Toms River.<\/p>\n

The popular three-term mayor was appointed to the bench<\/a> and confirmed by the state Senate<\/a> last month, and will now formally begin hearing cases in the court\u2019s Family Division following the administration of the oath of office in front of hundreds of dignitaries.<\/p>\n

Those lucky enough to get a seat at the ceremony, held in Courtroom One, heard stories of the birth of Ducey\u2019s son, Jack, just 11 days after being elected mayor, law clerk friends who will now serve as judges together, the pride his father \u2013 who passed away when Ducey was a teenager \u2013 would have felt looking on, and an allusion to a new judicial nickname borne out of Ducey\u2019s status as an admitted \u201cParrothead\u201d who follows singer Jimmy Buffett.<\/p>\n

The ceremony was emceed by Brick Township attorney Kevin Starkey, with speeches delivered by Judge Brian White, Ducey\u2019s brother-in-law, and Brick Township Business Administrator Joanne Bergin, who teared up while describing the \u201cbest time of my life\u201d working beside the former mayor at town hall.<\/p>\n

\"Brick<\/a>

Brick Township Business Administrator Joanne Bergin at John Ducey\u2019s swearing-in ceremony, March 23, 2023. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Superior<\/a>

Superior Court Judge John Ducey at his swearing-in ceremony, March 23, 2023. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s known by many as a man of few words, so over the years I developed a sort of savvy\u201d to interpret the mayor\u2019s reaction to a proposal, Bergin said. \u201cI had the honor of watching the man of few words blossom into the role of mayor, a boots-on-the-ground, truly respected, man of the people. If you\u2019ve ever gone to a meeting, a luncheon, a social event with him, you would understand his enormous popularity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bergin described Ducey as a man characterized by acting with an even-keel, developing novel ideas to improve Brick Township (\u201cnine football fields\u201d of commercial space in the township was filled thanks to his first-in-the-state \u201cempty storefront\u201d program), yet always making sure to put the needs of wife, Deirdre, and son, Jack, first. It was Jack who led the courtroom in the Pledge of Allegiance as the ceremony began.<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/a>

Jack Ducey, beside Kevin Starkey, leads the Pledge of Allegiance at his father\u2019s swearing-in ceremony, March 23, 2023. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cHe is a true example of diplomacy and grace,\u201d said Bergin. \u201cThe judiciary will now benefit from having the man I called \u2018the people whisperer\u2019 on the bench.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colleagues and Friends<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starkey was one of Ducey\u2019s first appointees after becoming mayor, and served throughout his tenure. After nearly a decade, Starkey came to one conclusion: \u201cHe loved being mayor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d go to the Little League games, the schools, the grand openings. Kids would come up and ask to take selfies with him,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

Ducey famously kept an \u201canalogue\u201d notebook with events penciled in, despite others having switched to calendar apps on smartphones. But the book, Starkey said, served as an example of how Ducey balanced his duties as mayor and duties as a husband and father.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he opened that notebook once a week, he would say, \u2018Jack has a baseball game on Wednesday, so that\u2019s where I\u2019m going,'\u201d said Starkey. \u201cThose were sacred times for him. Mayoral duties were not put aside for anything except his family, except for Jack, and that was the most impressive thing to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"John<\/a>

John Ducey shows off his signature \u2018analogue\u2019 calendar at his swearing-in ceremony as a Superior Court judge, March 23, 2023. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

Ducey, true to form, immediately pulled out his signature appointment calendar from the pocket of his suit jacket, to the laughter of the crowd.<\/p>\n

Among his new colleagues is Ducey\u2019s brother-in-law, Judge Brian White, who followed in the footsteps of his father to earn a seat behind the bench. It was through White that Ducey met Deirdre, and the two friends who were former law clerks together will now preside over cases at the same courthouse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know you\u2019re going to continue to make Ocean County incredibly proud,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Superior<\/a>

Superior Court Judge John Ducey at his swearing-in ceremony, March 23, 2023. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

After being sworn in, Ducey donned a traditional black judge\u2019s robe and looked out upon the packed courtroom. He reflected upon the major responsibilities as serving as mayor \u2013 going from a solo legal practitioner to overseeing a staff of 500 municipal employees. His wife, he said, was his biggest supporter.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has stood by my side through my various adventures in life \u2013 getting married, buying our first condo, our first house, putting in a pool, and starting a law firm with exactly zero clients,\u201d he said with a chuckle. \u201cI\u2019ve spent twelve years under the scrutiny of being in the public life, which means you spent twelve years being under the scrutiny of public life and all that comes with that. Best of all, we had our son Jack. I can\u2019t believe I\u2019m so lucky that I get to spend my life with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Superior<\/a>

Superior Court Judge John Ducey at his swearing-in ceremony, March 23, 2023. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

Many of the qualities his colleagues referenced during the ceremony were those Ducey said would guide him throughout his new career in the judiciary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI promise to be impartial, unbiased, and maintain a calm demeanor \u2013 work hard, follow the law, and the constitution \u2013 and also show compassion so that justice can always be obtained,\u201d he said. \u201cI promise to uphold the sanctity of this position so I can be a role model for those who hold this position after me, as those before me were role models to me. I hope that I can live up to all of those great judges who came before me.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From friendly ribbing to emotional recollections of life\u2019s journey, Brick Township\u2019s former mayor began a new chapter Thursday, being sworn in as a Superior Court judge in Ocean County\u2019s historic courtroom in Toms River. The popular three-term mayor was appointed to the bench and confirmed by the state Senate last month, and will now formally […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Judge #Ducey: Former #Brick #NJ #Mayor Dons Robe, Begins New Chapter as @njcourts Judge","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12,3],"tags":[24,4484,92,1592,4881],"class_list":["post-21849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ocean-county","category-police-fire-courts","tag-brick-nj-news","tag-featured","tag-john-ducey","tag-ocean-county","tag-superior-court"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/ducey_swearing_in_judge_ocean_county_1016-scaled.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgt2Ft-5Gp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}