First woman to serve on New Jersey high court dies

Marie Garibaldi, the first woman to serve on the New Jersey Supreme Court and to head the state bar association, has died.

Jose Lozano, the chief of staff at Hackensack University Medical Center, where Garibaldi was on the board, said she died Friday at the hospital. She was 81.

Garibaldi was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1982 by Gov. Tom Kean Sr. and served until 2000.

A tax law expert, Garibaldi wrote more than 225 opinions and served on dozens of committees for the high court.

Before her appointment, she served as a prosecutor for the Internal Revenue Service before going into private practice.

Chief Justice Stuart Rabner says she leaves behind “an army of admirers” and stayed close with her 46 law clerks through the years.