On December 10, 2010, Rivera-Soto stated in an "abstaining opinion" in an otherwise non-controversial case that he would abstaining from voting on all Supreme Court decisions for an indefinite period due to his belief that the current Court membership violated the State Constitution. A majority of the Court responded in a concurring opinion that the makeup of the Court was constitutional. The dispute centered around the decision of Chief Justice Stuart Rabner in September 2010 to temporarily assign the Presiding Judge of the Appellate Division, Edwin Stern, to fill a long-term vacancy on the Supreme Court, which resulted from an ongoing stalemate between Republican Governor Chris Christie and the Democratic-controlled State Senate over an appointment to fill the vacancy. The New Jersey State Constitution authorizes the Chief Justice to make such temporary assignments when "necessary"; Rivera-Soto asserted that the temporary appointment was not "necessary" and was therefore unconstitutional. The president of the Senate called on Rivera-Soto to resign due to his announced intention to refrain from participating in Court decisions, as did the "New York Times", saying that Rivera-Soto's move "appearto be driven by politics, not principle."