Twenty years after it was first settled in 1644, the officials of Hempstead Town—then called Heemstede out of deference to its Dutch first settlers—adopted a set of laws for their English and Dutch colonists. These laws, which were first known as the “Duke’s Laws” and shortly later were coined the “Blue Laws,” became the model for the jurisprudence of several of the first 13 colonies.
The majority of these laws governed everyday matters, including the designated payment for such civic responsibilities as serving on jury duty and such livestock protection services as killing wolves—seemingly trivial stuff.
However, there are lessons to be learned from the Blue Laws, according to Senior Councilman Anthony J. Santino, the nominee for Republican, Conservative, Independence, Tax Revolt, and Reform Parties running against former town board member Democrat Rita Kestenbaum to become Hempstead’s 15th supervisor. The modern form of the supervisor position was created in 1918.
“It is important to understand that going back to the earliest times in Hempstead Town, both the municipality’s leaders and its citizens understood the necessity for their new society to encourage basic civic responsibilities,” Santino stated when I interviewed him in his office last week.
