New Jersey Legal Resources

The New Jersey State Constitution is the primary governing document of the State of New Jersey.

• On 2 July 1776, New Jersey became the fourth American colony to adopt a constitution declaring independence from Great Britain. It was composed in five days and although the delegates considered it a temporary charter, it remained New Jersey's state constitution for sixty-eight years.
• New Jersey's second constitution shifted governmental power, which had been vested disproportionately in the legislature under the state's first charter, to the executive branch. In addition to direct election of the governor by the voters, the 1844 State Constitution also provided for gubernatorial veto power and the appointment of most high-level officials by the governor.
• New Jersey's current state constitution was drafted by a convention of delegates from each county, convened from 12 June to 10 September 1947. The new charter further strengthened the Office of the Governor and reorganized and unified the judicial system under the Supreme Court.

The New Jersey State Library houses a number of important documents related to the New Jersey Constitutions.  We provide a number of print and electronic resources to help you research and review the NJ State Constitution, the US Constitution, and the Constutions of the World.

New Jersey State Constitution of 1947

New Jersey's current state constitution was drafted by a convention of delegates from each county, convened from 12 June to 10 September 1947. The new charter further strengthened the Office of the Governor and reorganized and unified the judicial system under the Supreme Court.

New Jersey 1947 Constitutional Convention Proceedings

• Volume I: Convention Proceedings Record
• Volume II: Convention Proceedings Appendix and Index to Volumes I and II
• Volume III: Committee on Rights, Privileges, Amendments and Miscellaneous Provisions and Committee on the Legislative Record
• Volume IV: Committee on the Judiciary Record
• Volume V: Committee on Executive, Militia and Civil Officers, Committee on Taxation and Finance, Committee on Submission and Address to the People, Record, Index to Volumes III, IV and V
• New Jersey Constitutional Convention Proceedings 1947 Searchable Database (via NJSL)

See also

• Digitized NJ Constitution documents and materials
• Constitutional Amendments
• Other related documents


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The Constitution of the United States of America

According to the National Archives:

"After three hot summer months of equally heated debate, the delegates appointed a Committee of Detail to put its decisions in writing. Near the end of the convention, a Committee of Style and Arrangement kneaded it into its final form, condensing 23 articles into seven in less than four days.

On September 17, 1787, 38 delegates signed the Constitution. George Reed signed for John Dickinson of Delaware, who was absent, bringing the total number of signatures to 39. It was an extraordinary achievement. Tasked with revising the existing government, the delegates came up with a completely new one. Wary about centralized power and loyal to their states, they created a powerful central government. Representing wildly different interests and views, they crafted compromises. It stands today as one of the longest-lived and most emulated constitutions in the world."

The National Archives maintains a webpage dedicated to the Constitution of the United States.  There you can see a copy of the document, read a transcript, learn how it was made, who signed it, and more.  

The National Constitution Center has a great deal of information on the Constitution, including a Constitution 101 course, a library of Supreme Court cases covering the most influential cases in American History, and many interactive and interpretive features.   They sponsor Constitution Day on September 17 each year with education and entertainment activities.  Stop by the New Jersey State Library to get a free pocket copy of the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

Constitutions From Around the World

The United States is not the only country to have a constitution.  Likewise, New Jersey is not the only state to have it's own constitution.  

State Constitutions

Most US States provide online access to their constitutions.  The Indiana University Bloomington, Jerome Hall Law Library has an interactive map to help you research constitutions in all 50 states.  Here at the NJ State Library, you can use the Lexis and Westlaw databases to see each state's constitutions.  You can use the HeinOnline database to access all of the state constitutions, plus additional materials to put those documents in historic and current context.  

Constitutions Around the World

The Constitute Project provides access to many of the world's constitutions and gives researchers the ability to compare them.  The CIA World Factbook provides information on many of the world's constitutions.