Hoboken Hustle

The New Jersey Supreme Court has issued a (now relatively rare) full opinion in a bar discipline matter.

The Disciplinary Review Board had recommended a three-year suspension because the attorney, a former public official,  was “stung” in a federal operation.

The court disbarred the former Mayor of Hoboken convicted of criminal conspiracy

 …respondent pled guilty in United States District Court for the District of New Jersey to one count of conspiracy to obstruct interstate commerce by extortion under color of official right,

From the court’s summary

Respondent’s unethical conduct, consisting of offering favored treatment to a private developer in exchange for money, betrays a solemn public trust and undermines public confidence in honest government, thereby warranting his disbarment.

1. The disciplinary review process is intended to protect the public from unfit lawyers and promote public confidence in the legal system. The proper measure of discipline generally depends on a number of factors, including prior disciplinary history and the harm caused by the attorney’s transgressions. However, certain violations are so patently offensive to the elementary standards of a lawyer’s professional duty that disbarment is per se warranted. Thus, misconduct that breaches a fundamental and solemn trust, such as a lawyer’s involvement in a public-corruption bribery scheme, invariably triggers automatic disbarment. (pp. 7-8)

2. The public’s confidence in honest government and the democratic system cannot be sustained when bribery is the basis for official decisionmaking. An attorney and office holder who accepts bribes violates both the oath he took as an attorney and the one he took on assuming his public position, and such conduct is wholly incompatible with the high standards expected of members of the bar. Caselaw in New Jersey and other jurisdictions establishes precedent for disbarring attorneys who, as public officials, have accepted bribes in exchange for preferential treatment, as well as attorneys who have themselves bribed public officials. Attorneys who commit such misconduct are unlikely to find refuge in the few exceptions in New Jersey jurisprudence to the general rule that disbarment is the discipline for attorneys who engage in official bribery. Going forward, any attorney who is convicted of official bribery or extortion should expect to lose his license to practice law in New Jersey. (pp. 8-11)

3. Here, the Court disagrees with the DRB majority that the seriousness of respondent’s misconduct is mitigated because his betrayal occurred during a federal sting operation. Moreover, the Court did not view respondent as a passive player in the scheme. The Court acknowledges respondent’s prior unsullied reputation, service to the community, and expression of remorse, and applauds the steps he has taken to right his life. However, the concerns raised by this case are greater than whether this respondent is capable of rehabilitation. Any discipline short of disbarment will not keep faith with the Court’s charge to insure that the public will have confidence in members of the bar and in those attorneys who are privileged to serve as public officials. Consequently, respondent is disbarred. (pp. 11-12)

New Jersey has fallen into the habit of the court simply entering a summary order and attaching the Disciplinary Review Board report.

I prefer to see a state high court fully engaged in the business of upholding the integrity of its Bar. (Mike Frisch)