Arthur T. Vanderbilt (July 7, 1888 – June 16, 1957) was an American judge and judicial reformer. He served as Chief Justice of the
New Jersey Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases challenging th ...
from 1948 to 1957, the first Chief Justice under the revamped New Jersey court system established by the Constitution of 1947, in which the Supreme Court replaced the Court of Errors and Appeals as the highest court. He also was an attorney, legal educator and proponent of court modernization.
Early years and education
Vanderbilt was born on July 7, 1888, in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Barringer) High School where he was class president, editor of the newspaper, and a member of two fraternal groups, The Ramblers (later Omega Gamma Delta) and Lambda Tau. Following high school he took off a year to work on the railroad to earn money for college.
He attended
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...
, where he was a member of
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fiftee ...
, president of the student body, and was elected to
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
. A sidelight of his Wesleyan career was the inauguration of President William A. Shanklin. Vanderbilt was one of the inauguration speakers, along with U. S. President
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
, and then startled Taft by showing up later as a waiter at the inaugural dinner. Vanderbilt then attended
Columbia University School of Law
Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...
, graduating in 1913 with a LL.B.
Career
Many of Vanderbilt's ideas for court reform had been incorporated into the new judicial article of the New Jersey Constitution. One of those innovations was the designation of the Chief Justice as the administrative head of all courts in the state, replacing the previous system of almost completely autonomous courts. As Chief Justice, he created the first state Administrative Office of the Courts in the nation.
An appreciation of the changes brought to the New Jersey judicial system can be gained from a comparison between the structure of the courts before the new constitution and after. There were over 20 different courts in the system (e.g.-superior court, supreme court, court of errors and appeals, chancery, oyer & terminer, orphan's court, county court, general sessions, quarter sessions, etc.) which were replaced by the New Jersey Supreme Court, the Superior Court (Law, Chancery and Appellate Divisions), County Court, County District Court and the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. The County Courts were merged into the Superior Court, Law Division, as were the County District Courts, now known as the Special Civil Part of the Superior Court, and the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, now the Family Part of the Chancery Division. These were joined by the Tax Court. In addition, there are Municipal Courts which handled minor criminal and ordinance violations.
In the new practice, if an action is filed in the wrong court there is a procedure to transfer the matter to the proper court. Previously, filing the action in the wrong court was a fatal defect if the matter was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Professor John Lynch, who taught Constitutional Law and New Jersey Practice at the Seton Hall School of Law in the 1970s and 1980s, told the apocryphal story of a politically sensitive case in the 1930s or 1940s, in which the plaintiffs feared that the court would find it had no jurisdiction in order to avoid the political consequences of ruling in the plaintiff's favor. To avoid this, the plaintiff filed the action separately in all 20+ courts, only to have each court rule that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter. Professor Lynch claimed to be constantly in search of the actual case; it is not known if he was ultimately successful.
Vanderbilt was President of the
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...
in 1937–38. He also served for many years as Dean of
New York University Law School
New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...
, currently housed in a building that bears his name. Vanderbilt was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1936, 1940 and 1944. On two separate occasions he declined to be considered for nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court. Vanderbilt was the principal mentor to William J. Brennan Jr. when Brennan was a member of the
New Jersey Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases challenging th ...
and played an instrumental role in
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
's nomination of Brennan to the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
.
Publications
Vanderbilt authored many articles and a number of books, including:
* ''Men and Measures in the Law''
* ''The Challenge of Legal Reform''
* ''The Doctrine of the Separation of Powers and Its Present-Day Significance''
* ''Judges and Jurors''
* ''Improving The Administration of Justice''
Millburn, New Jersey
Millburn is a suburban township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 20,149, reflecting an increase of 384 (+1.9%) from the 19,765 counted in the 2000 Census, which had ...
, Vanderbilt had a heart attack while parking his car at the Lackawanna Railroad station in
Short Hills, New Jersey
Short Hills is an unincorporated community located within Millburn Township, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. It is a popular commuter town for residents who work in New York City. As of the 2020 United States Census, the CDP's pop ...
, on June 14, 1957. He lingered for two days, and died at 1:20 A.M. at Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey. His funeral was held at Christ Protestant Episcopal Church in Short Hills, and he was buried at Restland Memorial Park in
East Hanover, New Jersey
East Hanover Township is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 11,157, reflecting a decline of 236 (−2.1%) from the 11,393 counted in the 2000 Census, whic ...
.
Personal life
Vanderbilt married Florence J. Althen in 1914. They had five children: William, Robert, Jean, Virginia, and Lois.
His grandson, Arthur T. Vanderbilt, II, is an attorney, author, avid gardener, partner in a New Jersey law firm, and former deputy attorney general of New Jersey. One of his books is ''Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt'' (1989)