State Constitutional Protections of Liberty and the Antebellum New Jersey Supreme Court: Chief Justice Hornblower and the Fugitive Slave Law

Abstract:     
In this article, Professor Finkelman examines the significance of New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Hornblower’s decision in State v. The Sheriff of Burlington. Professor Finkelman discusses how the Hornblower decision relates to how modern Judges can protect civil liberties through state constitutions as well as a providing a context to New Jersey’s present day race relations. New Jersey was the last of the northern states to abolish slavery and, as is evident by Hornblower’s failure to publish his decision, often failed to protect the rights of its African-American citizens after slavery was abolished in the antebellum period.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 35

Keywords: Hornblower, fugitive slave law

Accepted Paper Series