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Since 1947 a modernized New Jersey Supreme Court has played an
important and controversial role in the state, nation, and world.
Its decisions in cutting-edge cases have confronted society's
toughest issues, reflecting changing social attitudes, modern
life's complexities, and new technologies.
Paul Tractenberg has selected ten of the court's landmark decisions
between 1960 and 2011 to illustrate its extensive involvement in
major public issues, and to assess its impact. Each case chapter is
authored by a distinguished academic or professional expert,
several of whom were deeply involved in the cases' litigation,
enabling them to provide special insights. An overview chapter
provides context for the court's distinctive activity.
Many of the cases are so widely known that they have become part of
the national conversation about law and policy. In the Karen Ann
Quinlan decision, the court determined the right of privacy extends
to refusing life-sustaining treatment. The Baby M case reined in
surrogate parenting and focused on the child's best interests. In
the Mount Laurel decision, the court sought to increase affordable
housing for low- and moderate-income residents throughout the
state. The Megan's Law case upheld legal regulation of sex offender
community notification. A series of decisions known as
"Abbott/Robinson" required the state to fund poor urban school
districts at least on par with suburban districts.
Other less well known cases still have great public importance.
"Henningsen v. Bloomfield Motors" reshaped product liability and
tort law to protect consumers injured by defective cars; "State v.
Hunt" shielded privacy rights from unwarranted searches beyond
federal standards; "Lehmann v. Toys 'R' Us" protected employees
from sexual harassment and a hostile work environment; "Right to
Choose v. Byrne" expanded state constitutional abortion rights
beyond the federal constitution; and "Marini v. Ireland" protected
low-income tenants against removal from their homes.
For some observers, the New Jersey Supreme Court represents the
worst of judicial activism; others laud it for being, in its words,
"the designated last-resort guarantor of the Constitution's
command." For Tractenberg, the court's activism means it tends to
find for the less powerful over the more powerful and for the
public good against private interests, an approach he applauds.
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