The New Jersey State Constitution: (Oxford Commentaries on the State Constitutions of the United States)

The New Jersey State Constitution is a completely revised new edition that provide an outstanding constitutional and historical account of the state's governing charter. In addition to an overview of New Jersey's constitutional history, it provides an in-depth, section-by-section analysis of the entire constitution, detailing the many significant changes that have been made since its initial drafting. This treatment, along with a table of cases, index, and bibliography provides an unsurpassed reference guide for students, scholars, and practitioners of New Jersey's constitution.State constitutions perform different functions and contain different provisions from the more-familiar U.S. Constitution. The book first outlines the historical development of New Jersey's state constitution from 1776 to the present and explains the highlights of the process of state constitutional development, leading to the current New Jersey constitution. Next, each section of the current constitution is analyzed, including its origins, general intent and purpose, and important judicial interpretations illustrating the types of situations in which the section can come into play, including references to key academic analysis of each section. Careful explanation is provided, with illustrations from cases, of the complex and evolving relationship between rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and rights guaranteed by the New Jersey constitution. In many instances, New Jersey's rights can be more protective than those included in the Federal Constitution. Finally, the book provides a thorough bibliographical essay reviewing the evolution of the New Jersey constitution.The Oxford Commentaries on the State Constitutions of the United States is an important series that reflects a renewed international interest in constitutional history and provides expert insight into each of the 50 state constitutions. Each volume in this innovative series contains a historical overview of the state's constitutional development, a section-by-section analysis of its current constitution, and a comprehensive guide to further research. Under the expert editorship of Professor G. Alan Tarr, Director of the Center on State Constitutional Studies at Rutgers University, this series provides essential reference tools for understanding state constitutional law. Books in the series can be purchased individually or as part of a complete set, giving readers unmatched access to these important political documents.

Table of Contents:
SERIES FOREWORD by G. Alan Tarr FOREWORD by Richard J. Hughes Preface to the Second Edition INTRODUCTION PART I. THE CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY PART II. NEW JERSEY CONSTITUTION AND COMMENTARY Article I: Rights and Privileges Article II: Elections and Suffrage Article III: Distribution of the Powers of Government Article IV: Legislative Article V: Executive Article VI: Judicial Article VII. Public Officers and Employees Article VIII. Taxation and Finance Article IX. Amendments Article X: General Provisions Article XI: Schedule BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY TABLE OF CASES INDEX

About the Author :
Robert F. Williams is Distinguished Professor of Law at Rutgers University School of Law, Camden, and Associate Director of the Center for State Constitutional Studies. He holds a B.A. from Florida State, a J.D. from the University of Florida, and LL.M. degrees from New York University School of Law and Columbia Law School. Professor Williams served as a legislative assistant during the 1967 Special Constitutional Revision session of the Florida Legislature and represented clients before the 1978 Florida Constitution Revision Commission. Professor Williams teaches Civil Procedure, State Constitutional Law and Statutory Interpretation at Rutgers Law School in Camden, in addition to writing and practicing in those areas. He is the author of The Law of American State Constitutions (Oxford Univ. Press 2009); State Constitutional Law: Cases and Materials (4th ed., Lexis Law Publishers 2006); Drafting State Constitutions, Revisions and Amendments (2006) (with Frank P. Grad); and numerous journal articles about state constitutional law and legislation. He is also co-author (with Hetzel and Libonati) of Legislative Law and Statutory Interpretation (4th ed., Lexis Law Publishers, 2008).

Review :
"Professor Williams work is more than a classroom primer. From beginning to end it is a significant reprise of the development of democratic government, particularly of democratic state government. It is a work where the usual background material of the introductory apparatus provides a road map through highly significant historical and analytical material from the founding decade of the country to the very present of the new judicial federalism which recognizes a new set of state constitutional rights." --Professor Frank P. Grad, J.P. Chamberlain Professor Emeritus of Legislation, Columbia Law School "A most welcome, important text! Professor Williams' own decades of research and close involvement in the developing field of state constitutional law enable him to illuminate the pathways back in history, and forward into the future, magnificently. This is both a compelling record of history being made, and an absolutely invaluable reference." -Judith S. Kaye, Chief Judge of the State of New York (Retired) "For a generation, Bob Williams has set the agenda for legal scholarship in state constitutional law. In this book, Williams pulls together a career's worth of reflection and study into a definitive account of what state constitutions are, how they work, and how courts should interpret them. The book is exactly what we have come to expect from Bob Williams: comprehensive, meticulously researched, and persuasively argued." -James A. Gardner, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs and Joseph W. Belluck and Laura L. Aswad Professor of Civil Justice State University of New York, University at Buffalo School of Law "In this book, Robert Williams undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the origin and evolution of American state constitutions, the notable ways they differ from the federal Constitution, and the various issues judges encounter in interpreting the wide range of structural provisions, procedural limitations, and guarantees of individual liberty enshrined in these foundational documents." -John Dinan, Associate Professor, Wake Forest University and author of The American State Constitutional Tradition "The most significant constitutional development of recent decades has been the resuscitation of litigation and scholarship centered on provisions in state constitutions. There has been no more thoughtful analyst of these developments than Professor Robert Williams. Although he disclaims laying down any grand theory for the field, Bob Williams has now given us the most valuable single work in the modern canon. No one since Thomas Cooley has done so much to enrich the debate." -Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard, Indiana Supreme Court "This book will enrich the understanding of any practitioner who seeks deeper knowledge of any constitution, state or federal." -John Vail, Vice President and Sr. Litigation counsel, Center for Constitutional Litigation, Washington, D.C. "Robert Williams is a long-time and very distinguished laborer in the field of state constitutional law - really, both a pioneer and a leader. His book looks, at first glance, to be a grand summing up, an attempt at magisterial synthesis. But it is in fact much better than that." -Pat Gudridge, Constitutional Law Jotwell "This book explores subnational statehood as an American legal concept like no other resource with which I'm familiar. And as this struggle continues both here and abroad, this book will be an asset for years to come." - James Colburn, Concurring Opinions "There is no better guide to those constitutions, and to that broader conception of what American constitutional law is, than Bob Williams...it will enrich the understanding of any practitioner who seeks deeper knowledge of any constitution, state or federal." --John Vail Trial Magazine "The book provides a coherent exposition of what new judicial federalism means and it draws important parallels and contrasts to litigation under the federal constitution...Overall, William's THE LAW OF AMERICAN STATE CONSTITUTIONS is an excellent book deserving of a read by public law scholars and of use in the classroom." --David Schultz, School of Business, Hamline University Law and Politics Book Review Blog