New Jersey
Judge dismisses racketeering indictment against New Jersey Democratic power broker, co-defendants
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A state judge on Wednesday agreed to toss out racketeering charges against New Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross and those charged alongside him.
Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw granted Norcross’ and other defendants’ motion to dismiss a state grand jury’s indictment on racketeering charges brough by Attorney General Matt Platkin.
Platkin said in a statement he plans to appeal the judge’s ruling.
The charges stem from a June 2024 indictment, announced by Platkin at a news conference at which Norcross himself took the unusual step of appearing at in person and sitting directly in front of the attorney general. The charges accused Norcross and five other defendants of running “an enterprise” going back to 2012 to use their political influence to craft legislation to serve their own interests.
In a nearly 100-page ruling, the judge found the prosecution’s allegations did not amount to criminal coercion or extortion and are time-barred.
“Defendants correctly argue that when considering private parties negotiating economic deals in a free market system, threats are sometimes neither wrongful or unlawful. In these situations, there may be nothing inherently wrong in using economic fear to obtain property,” Warshaw wrote.
Among the allegations against Norcross were charges that he threatened a developer who would not relinquish his rights to waterfront property in Camden, New Jersey, on Norcross’ terms. The indictment cites a profanity-laden phone recording of Norcross in which he tells the developer he will face “enormous consequences.” The person asks if Norcross is threatening him, according to the indictment. “Absolutely,” Norcross replies.
The indictment also said Norcross and the co-defendants extorted and coerced businesses with property rights on Camden’s waterfront and obtained tax incentive credits, which they then sold for millions of dollars. Platkin described Camden as long suffering from economic decline.
At the time, defense lawyer Michael Critchley had accused Platkin of having a “vendetta” against Norcross, noting that the waterfront development had been investigated for years by several agencies, including federal prosecutors in Philadelphia and New Jersey, as well as Platkin’s predecessor.
Those investigations came to nothing, Critchley said.
Norcross, who served as executive chairman of the insurance firm Conner Strong & Buckelew, had been widely viewed as among the most influential unelected Democrats in the state.
He was a Democratic National Committee member until 2021 and previously served as the head of the Camden County Democratic Party. A close friend to the former state Senate president, he was a behind-the-scenes power player and well-known financial backer to Democrats in the state and nationwide.
In addition to dismissing the indictment against Norcross, the judge’s order applied to his brother and co-defendant Philip A. Norcross, a New Jersey lawyer; George Norcross’s longtime lawyer William M. Tambussi; Camden
Community Partnership chief executive and former Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd; Sidney R. Brown, chief executive of trucking and logistics company NFI; and development company executive John J. O’Donnell.
Alabama
Lawmakers advance bill that would make it harder to sue police who use excessive force
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Divisive legislation that would expand legal immunity for police officers who use excessive force or kill someone in the line of duty advanced in the Alabama legislature on Wednesday, sparking outcry among civil rights attorneys and activists who say that it would make civil and criminal prosecution functionally impossible.
Existing Alabama law already offers enhanced legal protections for law enforcement, but proponents of the “back the blue” bill say that it will increase the recruitment and retention of officers and make police safer.
Police and civilians alike are currently entitled to a “stand your ground” hearing in criminal cases where a judge can determine whether the defendant acted in self defense. The new bill would allow an additional immunity hearing for officers accused of criminal wrongdoing, where a judge will decide if a case can proceed based on whether the officer acted recklessly outside the scope of law enforcement duties.
As the bill is currently written, even if the judge initially denies the officer immunity in a criminal case, defense attorneys for the officers can repeat their argument for immunity in front of a jury.
Unlike civilians, police are also currently protected from civil liability unless an officer acts “willfully, maliciously, fraudulently, in bad faith, beyond his or her authority, or under a mistaken interpretation of the law.” The new bill would limit liability further to mirror the standards used the criminal immunity hearing.
Norma Sanders, the president of the Lee County NAACP in the eastern part of the state, said at a public hearing in February that the organization gets complaints regularly about police brutality, but that it is already difficult to get legal accountability under current law.
“We know that many of the police officers receive little to no punishment when they commit a crime, because they are hiding behind the badge and say that they feared for their lives,” Sanders said.
The bill is one of several in Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey ‘s crime package that she said is as a priority for this legislative session.
Republican Rep. Rex Reynolds, who sponsored the bill, said that it is essential for officer safety.
“We need that same confidence within our law enforcement officers that they can perform their duties — sometimes at 21 years old — and put them in a situation where within three seconds they have to make a discretionary authority decision,” Reynolds said.
Democrats on the state House of Representatives Judiciary Committee argued that it made officers functionally immune from criminal prosecution, and pointed to several high-profile police killings in the state that have not resulted in guilty verdicts.
Former Alabama police officer Jim Taylor testified at the February hearing that the bill has the potential to undermine an already strained relationship between some citizens and law enforcement.
“The trust in law enforcement is conditioned on the ability to hold officers accountable for their actions. That’s what builds trust in our communities with our law enforcement representatives,” Taylor said.
Judge dismisses racketeering indictment against New Jersey Democratic power broker, co-defendants
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A state judge on Wednesday agreed to toss out racketeering charges against New Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross and those charged alongside him.
Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw granted Norcross’ and other defendants’ motion to dismiss a state grand jury’s indictment on racketeering charges brough by Attorney General Matt Platkin.
Platkin said in a statement he plans to appeal the judge’s ruling.
The charges stem from a June 2024 indictment, announced by Platkin at a news conference at which Norcross himself took the unusual step of appearing at in person and sitting directly in front of the attorney general. The charges accused Norcross and five other defendants of running “an enterprise” going back to 2012 to use their political influence to craft legislation to serve their own interests.
In a nearly 100-page ruling, the judge found the prosecution’s allegations did not amount to criminal coercion or extortion and are time-barred.
“Defendants correctly argue that when considering private parties negotiating economic deals in a free market system, threats are sometimes neither wrongful or unlawful. In these situations, there may be nothing inherently wrong in using economic fear to obtain property,” Warshaw wrote.
Among the allegations against Norcross were charges that he threatened a developer who would not relinquish his rights to waterfront property in Camden, New Jersey, on Norcross’ terms. The indictment cites a profanity-laden phone recording of Norcross in which he tells the developer he will face “enormous consequences.” The person asks if Norcross is threatening him, according to the indictment. “Absolutely,” Norcross replies.
The indictment also said Norcross and the co-defendants extorted and coerced businesses with property rights on Camden’s waterfront and obtained tax incentive credits, which they then sold for millions of dollars. Platkin described Camden as long suffering from economic decline.
At the time, defense lawyer Michael Critchley had accused Platkin of having a “vendetta” against Norcross, noting that the waterfront development had been investigated for years by several agencies, including federal prosecutors in Philadelphia and New Jersey, as well as Platkin’s predecessor.
Those investigations came to nothing, Critchley said.
Norcross, who served as executive chairman of the insurance firm Conner Strong & Buckelew, had been widely viewed as among the most influential unelected Democrats in the state.
He was a Democratic National Committee member until 2021 and previously served as the head of the Camden County Democratic Party. A close friend to the former state Senate president, he was a behind-the-scenes power player and well-known financial backer to Democrats in the state and nationwide.
In addition to dismissing the indictment against Norcross, the judge’s order applied to his brother and co-defendant Philip A. Norcross, a New Jersey lawyer; George Norcross’s longtime lawyer William M. Tambussi; Camden
Community Partnership chief executive and former Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd; Sidney R. Brown, chief executive of trucking and logistics company NFI; and development company executive John J. O’Donnell.
Alabama
Lawmakers advance bill that would make it harder to sue police who use excessive force
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Divisive legislation that would expand legal immunity for police officers who use excessive force or kill someone in the line of duty advanced in the Alabama legislature on Wednesday, sparking outcry among civil rights attorneys and activists who say that it would make civil and criminal prosecution functionally impossible.
Existing Alabama law already offers enhanced legal protections for law enforcement, but proponents of the “back the blue” bill say that it will increase the recruitment and retention of officers and make police safer.
Police and civilians alike are currently entitled to a “stand your ground” hearing in criminal cases where a judge can determine whether the defendant acted in self defense. The new bill would allow an additional immunity hearing for officers accused of criminal wrongdoing, where a judge will decide if a case can proceed based on whether the officer acted recklessly outside the scope of law enforcement duties.
As the bill is currently written, even if the judge initially denies the officer immunity in a criminal case, defense attorneys for the officers can repeat their argument for immunity in front of a jury.
Unlike civilians, police are also currently protected from civil liability unless an officer acts “willfully, maliciously, fraudulently, in bad faith, beyond his or her authority, or under a mistaken interpretation of the law.” The new bill would limit liability further to mirror the standards used the criminal immunity hearing.
Norma Sanders, the president of the Lee County NAACP in the eastern part of the state, said at a public hearing in February that the organization gets complaints regularly about police brutality, but that it is already difficult to get legal accountability under current law.
“We know that many of the police officers receive little to no punishment when they commit a crime, because they are hiding behind the badge and say that they feared for their lives,” Sanders said.
The bill is one of several in Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey ‘s crime package that she said is as a priority for this legislative session.
Republican Rep. Rex Reynolds, who sponsored the bill, said that it is essential for officer safety.
“We need that same confidence within our law enforcement officers that they can perform their duties — sometimes at 21 years old — and put them in a situation where within three seconds they have to make a discretionary authority decision,” Reynolds said.
Democrats on the state House of Representatives Judiciary Committee argued that it made officers functionally immune from criminal prosecution, and pointed to several high-profile police killings in the state that have not resulted in guilty verdicts.
Former Alabama police officer Jim Taylor testified at the February hearing that the bill has the potential to undermine an already strained relationship between some citizens and law enforcement.
“The trust in law enforcement is conditioned on the ability to hold officers accountable for their actions. That’s what builds trust in our communities with our law enforcement representatives,” Taylor said.
