With sharp investigative insight, Jaffe’s journalism reformed systems and exposed truths that reshaped New Jersey’s legal landscape

During a 37-year career as a writer, columnist, and legal affairs editor for The Star-Ledger, Herb Jaffe wrote several investigative series that resulted in major reforms of state laws and governmental systems, including the state’s mental health institutions, abuses in boarding homes, and injustices in the legal system. Jaffe initially worked at the newspaper from 1951–57, then returned in 1964, where he remained until his retirement in 1995. Congress commended him for uncovering World War II Nazis and collaborators living in New Jersey, the bilking of elderly persons by health insurance companies, and the illicit dumping of toxic wastes. He wrote about ways New Jersey could bring major league sports teams to the state, an effort that led, in part, to the opening of the Meadowlands Sports Complex in 1976. Best known as author of the weekly column “The Law,” Jaffe received numerous awards from the New Jersey State Bar Association. He is a two-time winner of the American Bar Association’s Certificate of Merit in Journalism. He has also earned the Scripps-Howard Foundation’s Distinguished Journalism Citation.