Members of the seven-person Judicial Advisory Panel included four former Supreme Court justices: James Coleman, Alan Handler, Stewart Pollock and Deborah Poritz.

In a letter to Christie, the resigning panel members said the governor's views are “inconsistent with an independent judiciary.”

“You have expressed publicly a profoundly different view of the governor’s appointive responsibilities,” they wrote. “This was exemplified by your actions and remarks in refusing to reappoint Justice John Wallace to the Supreme Court, a jurist who indisputably exemplified all of the qualifications for honorable judicial service.”

Also on the panel were Kean University Professor Susan Lederman, Goya Foods General Counsel Carlos Ortiz, and former state appellate judge Harold Wells.

When reached for comment, Coleman and Pollock declined to elaborate on their resignation letter.

“The letter is self explanatory,” Pollock said. “The panel and the governor have differing views of judicial independence.”

Christie’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The governor has previously said he acted within his constitutional rights to seek a replacement for Wallace, who he said contributed to the court’s judicial activism.

Christie is the first New Jersey governor who has not renominated a sitting Supreme Court justice. Christie nominated Morristown lawyer Anne Patterson to replace Wallace last month, but Senate Democrats have pledged to block any confirmation hearings.