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Third Time Is the Charm for New Jersey's State Constitution

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Third Time Is the Charm for New Jersey's State Constitution const_nj_UG.qxp 8/22/07 12:23 AM Page 1 Third Time is the Charm for New Jersey’s Fighting for the State Constitution Right to Vote in by Jodi L. Miller New Jersey oday, New Jersey’s constitution and court by Cheryl Baisden On the afternoon of system are revered and serve as models for November 2, 1920, 95-year-old other states to follow. That was not always T Antoinette Brown Blackwell, the case. It would take New Jersey three times to get armed with a small folding stool its constitution right. The state’s first constitution in case the wait was long at the was written in 1776, that document was revised in polls, proudly signed the registration book and cast her 1844 and finally totally rewritten in 1947. Election Day ballot in the city of In an editorial written in 1997 is largely given to Governor Elizabeth. Her poor eyesight and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alfred E. Driscoll, who pushed for a hearing made the trip to the New Jersey’s constitution, John Farmer constitutional convention, which was polling place challenging, and she of The Star-Ledger wrote, “New Jersey finally held in the summer of 1947, and needed help filling out her ballot, was perceived widely as a bit of an Arthur T. Vanderbilt, who has been but Blackwell was determined to embarrassment. Its government and called the “architect of New Jersey’s politics were condemned, quite rightly, modern-day court system.” vote in the presidential election as boss-ridden and blatantly corrupt. of 1920. The right to participate Its judicial system evoked derisive First two not quite right in the democratic process was jokes about “Jersey justice,” all richly According to Robert F. Williams, something she and generations of earned.” author of The New Jersey State women had fought long and hard How did New Jersey’s Constitution: A Reference Guide constitution go from among other books, New Jersey’s first to win. worst to first? The constitution was written hastily in 1776 It turned out Blackwell, who credit for the during the Revolutionary War. While founded the New Jersey Woman turnaround the document would last 68 years, it was Suffrage Association (NJWSA) in highly criticized by those in and out of 1867 with her sister-in-law Lucy New Jersey. In 1844, the New Jersey Legislature Stone, had no need for the stool. called for a constitutional convention to “[A]s soon as the long line of address the criticism and revise the men and women realized that continued on page 2 continued on page 4 const_nj_UG.qxp 8/22/07 12:23 AM Page 2 Third Time is the Charm continued from page 1 New Jersey Firsts state’s constitution. In an article written for New Jersey • Dutch settlers in the Kittatinny Mountains opened the Lawyer Magazine, Williams, who teaches state United States’ first copper mine in 1640. constitutional law and legislation at Rutgers Law • America’s first brewery opened in Hoboken in 1642. School — Camden, states that among the changes made • The first seashore resorts opened in Cape May and in New Jersey’s 1844 constitution were the addition of a Long Branch in the early 1800s. separate Bill of Rights and the elimination of property • The first ferry service operated between Hoboken requirements for white males to vote. In addition, and Manhattan in 1811. changes were made to the office of governor. The governor would now be elected directly by the people of • The first organized baseball game was played in Hoboken the state; he would have veto power and a longer term, in 1846. but still could not succeed himself in office. • The first intercollegiate football game was played on College Field in New Brunswick between Rutgers University and Convening a convention Princeton University on November 6, 1869. Rutgers won According to a Star-Ledger article that commemorated six to four. the state constitution’s 50th anniversary, since 1877 • The first boardwalk in the world was built in Atlantic City governors had been trying to have New Jersey’s 1844 in 1870. constitution replaced. Every governor had met with • The first saltwater taffy was produced at the Jersey shore resistance to a constitutional convention, particularly in the 1870s. from the small counties in the state that were concerned • Thomas A. Edison invented the first phonograph (1877) and their voting power in the Senate would be reduced. the first light bulb (1879) in Menlo Park. Governor Driscoll allayed the fears of New Jersey’s small counties “by agreeing to put the convention proposal • The first town to be lighted by electricity was Roselle to the voters with a prohibition against changing the in 1883. makeup of the Legislature,” The Star-Ledger reported. • Thomas A. Edison developed the first movie in West Orange Delegates to New Jersey’s Constitutional Convention in 1889. were elected through statewide balloting on June 3, 1947. • The first professional basketball game was played in Trenton Eighty-one delegates convened at the Rutgers in 1896. University Gym on College Avenue in New Brunswick on • The first condensed soup in the U.S. was cooked and canned June 12, 1947, with a deadline of September 12, 1947, in Camden County in 1897. to come up with a new constitution for New Jersey. The • The first airplane passenger flight flew from New York to breakdown of the delegates, according to The Star-Ledger, Atlantic City on May 3, 1919. was 23 Democrats, 54 Republicans and four Independents. An additional breakdown revealed that 50 delegates were • The first Miss America was chosen in Atlantic City in 1921. lawyers and, of the 81 delegates, only eight were women. • The first radio broadcast of the World Series was transmitted Governor Driscoll reportedly gave the delegates a short live on radio station WIZ in Newark in 1921. speech on their first day, advising them to “write a • The first drive-in movie theater was built on a 10-acre plot constitution that would be brief, that would stick to in Camden County in 1933. general principles and not repeat the mistakes of the • The United States’ first national historic park was 1844 constitution.” established in Morristown in 1933. Among other things, the 1947 constitution expanded • The first solid body electric guitar was invented by Les Paul the Bill of Rights to include equal rights for women and of Mahwah in 1940. also included an anti-discrimination provision. In addition, the new constitution strengthened the office of • The first robot to replace a human worker was used by the governor, putting all executive agencies under its General Motors in Ewing Township in 1961. control and permitting the governor to be re-elected. Previously, the governor could only serve one four-year Source: www.nj.gov term. 2 const_nj_UG.qxp 8/22/07 12:23 AM Page 3 Revamping New Jersey’s courts who, at Vanderbilt’s urging, Governor A proposed amendment requires Before the adoption of the 1947 Driscoll named to the New Jersey either a three-fifths vote of the total constitution, the state justice system Superior Court in 1949. Three years membership in both the State Senate was considered unwieldy and confusing. later Brennan would be elevated to the and the State Assembly in one It was comprised of 17 different courts, New Jersey Supreme Court legislative year or a majority vote in including the Court of Quarter Sessions, before being tapped by both the General Assembly and Senate Court of Oyer and Terminer, Court of President Dwight D. in two successive years. Once a Common Pleas and Orphans’ Court, Eisenhower to serve on proposed amendment achieves that, it “some run by judges who weren’t the U.S. Supreme is then submitted to New Jersey licensed to practice law,” Court. voters for ratification in the The Star-Ledger reported. In an next general election. Since “Before 1947, the courts were essay written New Jersey’s current badly fragmented,” Williams told in 1957, state constitution was The Star-Ledger. “If you got into the Vanderbilt adopted in 1947, more wrong court you were trapped and could wrote, “The past than 50 amendments have not get the relief you needed. In the nine years in New been enacted. ★ meantime, the statute of limitations ran Jersey have been out and it was sort of a Catch-22 system. busy ones but they Even the most expert lawyers could have not been without make a mistake,” Williams said. very real compensation. With Officially New Jersey That’s where Arthur Vanderbilt essentially the same personnel we have Although New Jersey doesn’t have an came in. A Newark lawyer and professor had the satisfaction of transforming one official state song, it is the only state at New York University Law School, of the worst judicial systems in the to have an official state demon. The Vanderbilt was considered an expert on country to one of the best. We have had New Jersey Devil was named the judicial administration and was the pleasure of being visited by judges state’s official demon in 1939. In appointed to the New Jersey Judicial and lawyers from many other states and addition, New Jersey’s official state Council in 1930. Once appointed, nations, all anxious to learn firsthand of Vanderbilt led a 17-year fight to reform our methods. We have experienced the flag, which includes the state’s New Jersey’s judicial system. That fight very real pleasure of doing a job well in official colors — buff and jersey was won with the adoption of the 1947 the public interest.” blue — depicts two goddesses that state constitution, which streamlined represent the state’s motto, Liberty New Jersey’s court system.
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