Esther Salas Wiki – Esther Salas Biography
Esther Salas is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey sitting in Newark, New Jersey. She previously served as a United States Magistrate Judge of the same court since 2006. Salas was the first Hispanic woman to serve as a United States Magistrate Judge in the District of New Jersey, and also the first to serve as a United States District Judge in the District of New Jersey.
Salas is from Monterey Park, California, and was the daughter of Cuban and Mexican immigrants. Her father is Jewish and her mother is Catholic. At the age of five, she, her mother, Aurelia Salas, along with her siblings, moved to Union City, New Jersey. Though she lost contact with her father when she moved from the West Coast, she would later reconnect with him during the course of the background check she underwent upon being appointed a federal judge. Growing up indigent, Salas recalls having to translate for her mother at the welfare office, and later helping friends with various problems facing their lives, an activity that led to her pursuit of a career focusing on human services.
Salas attended Emerson High School, where her extracurricular activities included cheerleading. After graduating from high school in 1987, she attended Rutgers University, where she lived on campus and was active in clubs and activities. Salas graduated from Rutgers in 1991 with her Bachelor of Arts, and in 1994 from Rutgers University School of Law in Newark with a Juris Doctor. She credits her success during her education and during her later professional life to the Minority Student Program.
She stated that five years before her nomination hearing, her husband held a fundraiser in their home for New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez. “I know Judge Salas and her husband well, and was proud to recommend her to President Obama for nomination to New Jersey’s federal bench,” Menendez said in a statement. “My prayers are with Judge Salas and her family, and that those responsible for this horrendous act are swiftly apprehended and brought to justice.”
“Throughout my professional career, I have made it a point to reach out to the community, and I have participated throughout the years in programs that seek to empower urban youth to achieve academic and professional success,” she wrote.
She stated that she had expressed her interest in pursuing a federal judicial appointment to both of New Jersey’s U.S. Senators. In 2009, she was contacted by Senator Frank Lautenberg’s representative asking if she was interested. She then met with Lautenberg’s selection group and with Senator Robert Menendez and his Chief Counsel.
According to NJ Monthly, Salas has said one of her “proudest accomplishments” was creating a Pretrial Opportunity Program with another judge. It’s a jail alternative program for drug addicts. The story says Salas would “sit down for frank conversations with defendants,” adding that she “lives and breathes her work.”
Esther Salas Age
Esther Salas is 51 years old. She was born on December 29, 1968, in Monterey Park, California, United States.
Husband
Federal Judge Esther Salas gave a super keynote address at our convocation today. Shared her experiences growing up in a poor immigrant family and the key role her teachers made in her later success. Very inspiring. A few of our 8th graders came in to show her their school. pic.twitter.com/guVjRLmCQS
— Rocco Tomazic (@RGT_EdD) September 4, 2018
The judge’s husband is Mark Anderl, a criminal defense attorney. Anderl is a lawyer with the New Jersey law firm of Anderl & Oakley, P.C.
According to New Jersey Monthly, Salas met her husband when he was working as a prosecutor and she was working as a law school intern. He spotted her “getting fingerprinted” and came over to talk to her, she told the publication, adding, “We’ve been inseparable since 1992.”
His website biography says that Anderl practices in the areas of “State and Federal Criminal Defense Juvenile Delinquency DWI/Municipal Court.” He received his education from Brooklyn Law School and Northeastern University and was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1985.
“Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Criminal Trial Attorney, 1997 to present Over 250 Criminal Jury Trials Anderl & Oakley, P.C., partner, 1997 to present,” his website says. Before that, he worked as an assistant prosecutor for 10 years in the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
He has received numerous awards, including Middlesex County Bar Association Practitioner of the Year and New York top-rated lawyers.
Son
Daniel Anderl, the judge’s son, who is a student at Catholic University, is dead, the news site reported. Daniel is listed by Perfect Game.org as a 2018 graduate of North Brunswick, New Jersey. He was listed as uncommitted. He attended St. Joseph high school and stood 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighed 150 pounds. The team last played for was listed as a “baseball warehouse.”
Salas once told New Jersey Monthly, when her son was 17, that she could see him pursuing a legal career.
Read More: Who is Mark Anderl? Wiki, Biography, Age, Wife, Son, Shooting, Suspect, Investigation Report
“I don’t want to dissuade him, but I was pulling for a doctor,” Salas told the publication. “He’s been arguing with us since he could talk—practicing his advocacy skills.” The story said that Salas “teaches him her mother’s mantra: ‘Tu no eres mejor que nadie, pero nadie es mejor que tu.’ It means you are not better than anyone, but no one is better than you.”
Threats and “inappropriate communications” against federal judges numbered 4,449 in 2019, CNN reported, adding that such threats have escalated in recent years.
There are about 2,700 federal judges in the country.
In 2005, a man upset that U.S. District Court Judge Joan Lefkow dismissed his lawsuit murdered her mother and husband in Illinois.
From 1979 to April 2020, only three federal judges had been murdered in the United States: Judge John Wood, Judge Richard Daronco and Judge Robert Vance, according to CNN.
#WCW Esther Salas, The United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey #Diversity #WomenInLaw pic.twitter.com/Tinun9yNth
— LSAC Diversity (@LSACDiversity) March 21, 2018
Investigation Report
“The FBI is investigating a shooting that occurred at the home of Judge Ester (sic) Salas in North Brunswick Township, New Jersey earlier this evening, July 19. We’re looking for one subject & ask that anyone who thinks they may have relevant information call us at 1-973-792-3001,” wrote FBI Newark.
News 4 New York reported that the gunman showed up at the judge’s home in North Brunswick around 5 p.m. on Sunday, July 19. It’s not clear whether the gunman was posing as a FedEx driver or actually was one. “We are aware of the media reports and are fully cooperating with investigating authorities,” a FedEx spokesman told CNN.
“Judge Salas and her family are in our thoughts at this time as they cope with this senseless act,” Governor Phil Murphy wrote on Twitter.
The television station reported that the judge’s husband answered the door and was shot “multiple times.” The son came to see what was going on and was also shot, that report said. However, there are conflicting reports about who opened the door first, father or son. ABC News reported that “the judge’s son opened the door to the family’s North Brunswick home and was immediately shot,” quoting North Brunswick Mayor Francis “Mac” Womack as saying that Daniel Anderl was “shot through the heart.” He’s a Catholic University freshman.
CNN reported that Daniel opened the door with his father “right behind” and they were met with a “hail of gunfire.”
According to the television station, the judge is the first Latina woman to serve on New Jersey’s federal bench. Rutgers University called her “The first Hispanic to serve as a US Magistrate Judge for NJ.”
The motive and suspect are not yet clear. The suspect is at large. New Jersey Globe reported that the judge had been the target of threats but didn’t specify them. However, ABC News quoted the mayor of North Brunswick as saying, “As a judge, she had threats from time to time, but everyone is saying that recently there had not been any.” My Central New Jersey reported that a neighbor provided video to authorities, that the block was crawling with agents after the shootings, and the hospital was locked down.