Richard Joseph Hughes (August 10, 1909December 7, 1992) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge. A Democrat, he served as the 45th

governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The ...

from 1962 to 1970, and as Chief Justice of the

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the supreme court, 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 cha ...

from 1973 to 1979. Hughes is the only person to have served New Jersey as both governor and chief justice. Hughes was also the first

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

governor in New Jersey's history.Stanley B. Winters
Governor Richard Hughes – Biography
''The Governors of New Jersey: Biographical Essays'' (Reuters University Press, 2014): eds. Michael J. Birkner, Donald Linky & Peter Mickulas.

Early life and education

Hughes was born into an Irish-American family on August 10, 1909, in

Florence Township, New Jersey Florence Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 12,812, an increase of 703 (+5.8%) ...

. He was the son of Richard Paul and Veronica Hughes (née Gallagher). His father was active in Democratic politics, serving as a state civil service commissioner, warden (then known as "principal keeper") of Trenton State Prison, now called New Jersey State Prison, and chair of the Burlington County Democratic Party. Hughes graduated from Cathedral High School in Trenton,

Saint Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a Private university, private Jesuits, Jesuit university in Philadelphia, Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Jesuits, Society of J ...

in Philadelphia and the New Jersey Law School, now

Rutgers Law School Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. pr ...

Lawyer and state judge

Hughes was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1932 and entered private practice in Trenton. He became active in Mercer County Democratic politics in 1937 and later became a Democratic state committeeman from the county, as well as president of the New Jersey Young Democrats. Hughes sought election to the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

in 1938 from New Jersey's 4th congressional district, running as a strong supporter of

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

; he was defeated by Republican D. Lane Powers by a broad margin but established a reputation as a robust campaigner. In December 1939, Hughes became a federal

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey. In that role, he prosecuted federal crimes, including against members of the pro-

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

German-American Vocational League. Hughes secured numerous convictions, which bolstered his standing. Hughes stepped down as Assistant U.S. Attorney in June 1945, after being elected chairman of the Mercer County Democratic Party, and resumed private practice in partnership with Thorn Lord, who had been U.S. Attorney. In 1948, Hughes was appointed by acting Governor John M. Summerill, Jr. as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas (which, after the state court system was reorganized, became Mercer County Court). After

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

judge William J. Brennan, Jr. was appointed as a justice of the state supreme court in February 1952, Governor Alfred E. Driscoll appointed Hughes to fill the vacancy on the Superior Court bench. Hughes was later appointed to be assignment judge for Union County and was thereafter elevated to the Superior Court, Appellate Division. As a Superior Court judge, Chief Justice Arthur T. Vanderbilt appointed Hughes as chair of a committee tasked with studying the state's handling of juvenile offenders and making recommendations for changes; the state supreme court accepted the committee's recommendations, leading to a reform of the New Jersey juvenile and domestic-relations courts. Hughes was considered by Governor Robert B. Meyner as a possible nominee to the state supreme court bench. Seeking to support his large family, however, Hughes resigned from the bench in November 1957 in resume the practice of law. In his successful practice, Hughes' clients included the Association of New Jersey Railroads, Public Service Electric & Gas Company, and manufacturers of polio vaccines, whom Hughes defended in

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

matters.

Governor, 1962–1970

Hughes was little known at the time he ran for

in 1961, and was selected as the Democratic nominee only after the first choice of powerful party leaders,

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Grover C. Richman, had a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. Hughes proved to be a strong campaigner, however, and achieved an upset victory over Republican nominee James P. Mitchell, who had been U.S. Secretary of Labor during the Eisenhower administration, by slightly under 35,000 votes. One of the important issues of Hughes' term as governor was state taxation; at the time Hughes took office in 1962, "New Jersey was one of only a handful of states that had neither an

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

nor a

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...

." Hughes suffered a political defeat when a bond question, which would have issued $750 million in bonds for capital construction, was voted down in the November 1962 elections. Hughes announced his support for enactment of a state personal income tax; consideration of the proposal was delayed by leaders in the state legislature. During Hughes' campaign for re-election, the tax issue was overshadowed by a political controversy arose when Eugene Genovese, an instructor at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

, publicly stated that he would "welcome a

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

ese victory" in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. Hughes' Republican challenger, State Senator Wayne Dumont, called for Genovese to be fired; Hughes criticized Genovese's views as "outrageously wrong" but robustly supported

academic freedom Academic freedom is the right of a teacher to instruct and the right of a student to learn in an academic setting unhampered by outside interference. It may also include the right of academics to engage in social and political criticism. Academic ...

. With the backing of

organized labor The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

, Hughes was re-elected with 1,279,589 votes, with Dumont taking 915,996. In his second term, he pushed for passage of a state income tax. Although both chambers of the legislature has Democratic majorities, the bill failed, having passed the state House but being defeated by a single vote in the state Senate. In a compromise, the Legislature passed, and Hughes signed, the Sales and Use Tax Act, which established a 3% state sales tax effective in July 1966. Hughes said "that to turn down any broad-based tax would relegate the state to second-class status." Hughes was a delegate to three

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

s representing New Jersey. He attended

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

's nomination for a full term as president in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

(as an alternate), Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey's selection as standard bearer in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

and Senator George S. McGovern's

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

convention in

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...

. Many credit the fact that then-President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

had a very close friendship with Hughes, as one reason that

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

hosted the 1964 Democratic National Convention. Hughes was one of three final candidates considered by vice president and presidential nominee Hubert Humphrey to be the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1968.

Chief justice, 1973–1979

After serving as governor from 1962 to 1970, he served as the chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1973 to 1979, having been nominated for the post by his successor, William T. Cahill. When Hughes was chief justice, the court issued a unanimous ruling in the

Karen Ann Quinlan case ''In re Quinlan'' (70 N.J. 10, 355 A.2d 647 (NJ 1976)) was a landmark 1975 court case in the United States in which the parents of a woman who was kept alive by artificial means were allowed to order her removal from artificial ventilation. Kar ...

, allowing an individual the right to refuse medical treatment and the right of a guardian to exercise that right if the patient cannot.

Later life

Hughes left the Supreme Court in 1979 after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70, and returned to the private practice of law. In retirement, Hughes was

of counsel Of counsel is the title of an attorney in the legal profession of the United States who often has a relationship with a law firm or an organization but is neither an associate nor partner. Some firms use titles such as "counsel", "special couns ...

at Hannoch Weisman, a New Jersey law firm, and split his time between

Lawrenceville, New Jersey Lawrenceville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) within Lawrence Township in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

and

Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton ( ; ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 97,422 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and it ranked as the 23rd-largest city in Florida in 2022. Many people with a Boca Raton Address, ...

. He suffered a stroke in 1991, and died the following year of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF typically pr ...

in Boca Raton. He was interred at St. Mary's Cemetery in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...

Legacy

The building in Trenton, New Jersey which bears his name that houses the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety (headed by the Attorney General), the courtroom, chambers and offices of the

State Supreme Court In the United States, a state supreme court (known by other names in some states) is the highest court in the state judiciary of a U.S. state. On matters of state law, the judgment of a state supreme court is considered final and binding in ...

, the courtroom and several chambers and offices of the

New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division (in case citation, N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div) is the intermediate appellate court in New Jersey. "The Appellate Division of New Jersey's Superior Court is the first level appellate court, with ap ...

, and the administrative headquarters of the statewide court system, was dedicated as the Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex, in 1982 in his honor.

Personal life

Hughes had five sons, two daughters, and three stepsons. He married Miriam McGrory in 1935; they had four children. His first wife died in 1950; in 1955, he married Elizabeth Sullivan Murphy (died 1983), and they had three children. In 1972, Hughes would contact then-senator Joseph Biden, who he had previously never met, to provide support and advise on how to cope with the unexpected and sudden death of his wife Neilia Hunter Biden. Several of his children have become prominent in New Jersey law and politics. Hughes' stepson W. Michael Murphy Jr., a former Morris County prosecutor,Burt A. Folkart
Richard J. Hughes; Justice Wrote Decision in Quinlan Case
''Los Angeles Times'' (December 8, 1992).Barbara G. Salmore, ''New Jersey Politics and Government: The Suburbs Come of Age'' (Rutgers University Press: 4th ed. 2013), p. 64. placed third in the 1997 Democratic primary for

. Hughes' son Brian M. Hughes is the former elected county executive of Mercer County.Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman
County Executive Brian Hughes resting after cardiac surgery
''Trentonian'' (December 15, 2008).