Miriam Span, 1960
Former NJ Superior Court Judge for 29 years.
When Miriam graduated from Weequahic , she was awarded the prestigious Louis Bamberger Award. After Weequahic, Miriam attended Rutgers-Newark, and earned her Law Degree from Rutgers Law School in 1966. She was one of four women in the graduating class, graduating cum laude. In her continuing education, she also attended The Hague Academy of International Law in the Netherlands.
Miriam served as an assistant US Attorney in Newark from 1967 to 1982 in Newark. She also served as an Assistant Deputy Public Defender, and an Assistant Deputy Public Advocate, as well as a partner in her private practice law firm of Span and Gomperts in Westfield, NJ.
In 1984, she was appointed to the NJ Superior Court as a Judge in 1984. She presided over cases in the Civil, Criminal, and Chancery trial divisions in Union County, NJ, until 2013.
Miriam’s was highly regarded as a fair and extremely knowledgeable lawyer and judge. One of the highlights of her career was in 1982 when she defended a domestic violence survivor in one of the first cases to use the ‘battered woman’ defense. She also served on a number of other precedent setting cases during her long tenure in the legal profession. Miriam was raised in a family that placed great emphasis on education and service. It was no surprise that she carried those beliefs into her professional life.
Miriam retired when her son fell ill so she could care for him. After his death, she became active with a number of social service organizations. She is a literacy volunteer, active with the Westfield Foundation, has served on the Overlook Hospital Advisory Board, and was a docent at the Holocaust Museum.
Miriam is married to real estate attorney Gerald Span and they have a daughter, Jenny.