Eldridge Hawkins

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Eldridge Hawkins (born September 4, 1940) is an American lawyer and Democratic politician from New Jersey. He served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1972 to 1978 and chaired the Judiciary, Law, Public Safety and Defense Committee. He helped write New Jersey’s Code of Criminal Justice (Title 2C) and sponsored the state’s Affirmative Action Law.

Hawkins was born in East Orange, New Jersey. He earned a BA in Political Science from Rutgers University in 1962 and a JD from Seton Hall Law School in 1966.

Early in his career, Hawkins was among the first six attorneys in the General Counsel’s Office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under President Lyndon B. Johnson (1966–1967). After the Newark riots began, he became the head attorney for the Springfield Avenue Office of Newark Legal Services and later the Director of Monmouth County Legal Services. He also served as the city prosecutor of East Orange from 1970 to 1972.

In 1971 he was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly from District 11D at age 31, alongside Peter Stewart. In 1973 he won election in the 26th District to the Assembly, with Richard Codey and Frank J. Dodd winning seats in the Senate.

In 1975, at Governor Brendan Byrne’s request, Hawkins helped review clemency for Rubin Carter and John Artis and issued an inquiry that concluded the shooters were Eddie Rawls and Elwood Tuck, not Carter or Artis.

As a lawyer, Hawkins helped establish important civil rights precedents in New Jersey. He was the founding president of the Garden State Bar Association, served on the Essex County Ethics Committee, and received several awards, including Seton Hall Law School’s Thurgood Marshall Award.

His son, Eldridge Hawkins Jr., was elected mayor of Orange, New Jersey in 2008. His daughter, Hillary Hawkins, is an actress, producer and writer. He is married to Linda Cofer Hawkins, a publicist and businesswoman who has been a trailblazer for African American women in the Miss New Jersey and Miss America pageants.