By Marcus Rayner | To the Editor, The Times of Trenton

Small businesses are at the front lines of market instability; decisions made by the highest judicial authority in the state impact everything from liability and insurance to the cost of doing business in New Jersey.

Capitol Talk columnist George Amick correctly observes that our seven-member state Supreme Court was never intended to shoulder multiyear vacancies (“N.J. Supreme Court has been weakened by vacancies from partisan stalemate,” March 18).

One effect that has been lost in the political calculus is the impact the Court’s vacancies have had on New Jersey’s economy. Three out of five New Jersey residents are employed by a small business.

Small businesses are at the front lines of market instability; decisions made by the highest judicial authority in the state impact everything from liability and insurance to the cost of doing business in New Jersey.

It’s unsurprising that a Rutgers-Eagleton survey showed that nine out of 10 of New Jersey’s small employers are concerned about the Court’s partisan stalemate. This is not the encouragement our business community needs to spur economic growth.

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