State V. Shack 277 A. 2d 369 Case Study

As the legal hands of time travel forward, we witness the meaning of private property change drastically and the rights of property owners disintegrate through the success of limiting cases on the overall rights of property owners. The State v. Shack 277 A.2d 369 (N.J. 1971) case surfaced in court as an issue of trespassing, when the defendants Tejeras representing SCOPE, a nonprofit organization which provides medical care to migrant workers, and Shack representing CRLS, a nonprofit organization providing legal services to migrant workers, entered the private property of Tedesco in search of two of his employees. The plaintiff confronted the defendants about their intentions on the property and learning of their purpose, he offered to retrieve the workers and provide them a location to discuss their needs in Tedesco’s office and in his presence; the defendants refused the plaintiff’s offer. In response he asked them to leave, accompanied by a State Trooper removing the defendants from the property.

The different aspect being deliberated was whether the property owner, Tedesco, had the right to turn away medical and legal services from his employees based on his rights as a property owner. The outcome of this case showed limiting powers on the rights of property owners while expanding the personal rights of individuals by stating that an individual’s human rights override the rights of a property owner. The intention of this verdict was to prevent landowners from having a supreme amount of power over those on the private