Lee B. Laskin, retired N.J. Superior Court judge, former state senator, and onetime Camden County freeholder, has died at 87
He spent 20 years on the bench, 20 as an effective state legislator, and more than 50 as a successful lawyer in South Jersey. “He was truly a man among men,” a longtime friend said.
Lee B. Laskin, 87, of Marlton, retired New Jersey Superior Court judge, former state senator and assemblyman, onetime Camden County freeholder, longtime lawyer, mentor, and veteran, died Thursday, April 18, of complications from COVID-19 at his home.
Judge Laskin oversaw many consequential South Jersey cases in the civil and family divisions of the state’s Superior Court from 1996 until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 in 2006. After that, he was invited by the state’s Supreme Court to adjudicate local cases for another decade as Superior Court senior judge. He retired for good in 2016.
Judge Laskin was nominated for Superior Court in 1994 by Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, and her press secretary said his selection was “based on his qualifications, his background as a practicing attorney for many years, and things like temperament and demeanor.” He ruled on family disputes and financial issues, and his 1998 noteworthy decision on parental and embryonic rights was upheld on appeal by the state’s Supreme Court.
Colleagues recently noted his integrity, political independence, and “tremendous respect for learning and intellect” in online tributes. He told The Inquirer after his 1994 nomination: “The New Jersey system is the most respected system by all the states in the country because of the nonpolitical nature of our system, of how judges become tenured, don’t run for office, don’t collect money, don’t make promises to people on how they’re going to rule as a judge.”
Earlier, he served four terms, from 1978 to 1992, as a state senator from Cherry Hill. He was elected freeholder on what is now the Camden County Board of County Commissioners and served from 1970 to 1973. He served in the state assembly from 1968 to 1970.
As state senator in the 1980s, Judge Laskin championed animal protection laws, mandatory recycling, and increasing the drinking age from 18 to 21. He supported gun rights and low taxes in the 1990s. In 1987, he told The Inquirer that his philosophy of state government “is basic and simple: You spend what you have to spend to help the people who need it. Period. But nobody does that.”
He worked as assistant city attorney in Camden and assistant U.S. attorney in the 1960s, and represented South Jersey municipalities, local schools boards, businesses, and nonprofits in private practice in the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘90s. He also founded and was the first chairman of the Glendale National Bank in the 1970s.
“He loved his work and never wanted to stop,” said his wife, Andy. “He was dedicated to doing the right thing always.”
Although his independent viewpoints sometimes irritated both Democrats and fellow Republicans, Judge Laskin was a valued mentor to other lawyers and judges. A longtime friend said he “was like a second father to me growing up.”
He served in the Marine Corps and Reserve in the 1950s and ‘60s, and another friend said in an online tribute: “He was a no-nonsense man but always had a slight twinkle in his eye.”
Lee Bernard Laskin was born June 30, 1936, in Atlantic City. His family moved to Camden when he was young, and he graduated from Camden High School in 1954.
He studied at American and Temple Universities before earning his law degree at Rutgers Law School in Camden in 1960, and clerked for future New Jersey Gov. William T. Cahill. He knew Andrea Solomon from the neighborhood, and they married in 1960, and had daughter Shari and son Howard. His son died earlier.
The family lived in Camden, Cherry Hill, and Marlton, and their historic farmhouse home in Cherry Hill was featured in The Inquirer in 1981. The floor of the family room was adorned with a red, white, and blue area rug, and Judge Laskin said: “Red, white, and blue is me. I’m a superpatriot.”
He also said in that interview: “My marriage is a one-in-a-zillion type of marriage. It’s just as great in all ways now as when we were first married 21 years ago.”
Judge Laskin and his family skied together for years and sailed their boat, the Gerrymander, in the Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere. He and his wife also rented boats to traverse the Virgin Islands, and he told The Inquirer in 1981: “I’d like to sail into the sunset. But for that you need time and lots of money.”
He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when he was 30 and had heart surgery when he was 57. Despite his busy schedule, he was home every night for dinner. He called himself, his wife, and daughter the Three Musketeers.
“He was the most moral, honest, empathetic, and humble man I will ever know,” his daughter said. His wife said: “He was so perfect. Honestly.”
In addition to his wife and daughter, Judge Laskin is survived by two grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, a sister, and other relatives. A brother and grandson died earlier.
Services were held on April 21.
Donations in his name may be made to the Matthew Tarnopol Foundation, 16 Cedar Trail, Medford, N.J. 08055.