The New Jersey State Bar Association mourns the passing of former Supreme Court Justice James H. Coleman Jr., a seminal figure in New Jersey jurisprudence who broke down racial barriers as the Court’s first Black justice. In his 39-year judicial career, including nine on the Supreme Court, Justice Coleman served the residents of New Jersey with honor, distinction and with an unshakeable commitment to fair administration of justice.
Along with his historic appointment to the Supreme Court in 1994, Justice Coleman was also the first Black judge to serve in the Division on Workers’ Compensation and the Appellate Division, where he became the presiding judge in 1987. Across 2,000 opinions, Justice Coleman authored groundbreaking decisions on the exclusion of racial minorities from juries and cross-racial identification.
Justice Coleman’s remarkable journey as the son of a sharecropper in segregated Lawrenceville, Virginia to the state’s highest court will continue to inspire generations of lawyers. His service to the bench and bar has profoundly shaped New Jersey’s legal landscape for the better.