Stanley Stanley Van Ness (February 28, 1933—September 26, 2007) was an American jurist who worked for a number of state agencies in New Jersey, USA. Most notably, he led the New Jersey Department of the Public Advocate

New Jersey Department of the Public Advocate

The New Jersey Department of the Public Advocate was a department within the Executive branch of the government of New Jersey that acted as a voice on behalf of the people of the state...

 as the first Public Advocate in New Jersey and the United States. He was the third African American to reach cabinet-level status in New Jersey.

Van Ness was born in Somerville, New Jersey

Somerville, New Jersey

Somerville is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 12,098. It is the county seat of Somerset County....

. In the early 1950s, he graduated from Rutgers University

Rutgers University

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...

, subsequently serving in the Air Force. Van Ness graduated Rutgers Law School in 1963, then becoming a United States Attorney

United States Attorney

United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...

. A few years later, he became counsel to Governor Richard J. Hughes

Richard J. Hughes

Richard Joseph Hughes was an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 45th Governor of New Jersey from 1962 to 1970, and as Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1973–1979...

. In 1969, Hughes chose Van Ness to lead the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender

New Jersey Office of the Public Defender

The New Jersey Office of the Public Defender is an agency that is a part of the government of the state of New Jersey, in the United States. The agency provides legal aid to "low income people charged with major crimes."...

. When the New Jersey Department of the Public Advocate

New Jersey Department of the Public Advocate

The New Jersey Department of the Public Advocate was a department within the Executive branch of the government of New Jersey that acted as a voice on behalf of the people of the state...

was established in 1974, Van Ness was placed as its chief, and the Public Defender office was incorporated into the Public Advocate office.