Yesterday’s Star-Ledger contained a review of this book, which is edited by Paul L. Tractenberg and published by Rutgers University Press. That review is available here. According to the review, the book discusses such landmark Supreme Court of New Jersey cases as Henningsen v. Bloomfield Motors, 32 N.J. 358 (1960), which allowed consumers to sue for defective products even without privity, Southern Burlington Cty. NAACP v. Mt. Laurel Tp., 67 N.J. 151 (1975) (“Mount Laurel I“), which established the constitutional duty of municipalities to make available a reasonable opportunity for the construction of low and moderate-income housing, and the Robinson v. Cahill/Abbott v. Burke line of cases, which relate to the method of funding a “thorough and efficient” public education as required by the New Jersey Constitution. Some of the many rounds of Abbott v. Burke have been discussed here, here, and here.
The other decisions addressed in the book, which range from landlord-tenant law to the right to die, from criminal law to employment discrimination, and from abortion funding for the poor to issues of surrogate parents, are also very weighty. There are likely several dozen Supreme Court of New Jersey decisions that could readily be said to have had ripple effects nationwide. The list of cases discussed in this book certainly is a good start. Readers who read the book and care to offer reviews or comments are welcome to post them here.