George Norcross is guilty of dropping F-bombs. And that’s all | Opinion

By James Burnham

Extortion is a crime of force, threats, force and coercion by unlawful means. It is not a crime of hard bargaining, aggressive business practices, or foul language. This is an obvious, intuitive legal line – and one that the prosecutors prosecuting George Norcross are trying to erase.

The New Jersey Attorney General has charged Norcross and several of his business associates with a variety of racketeering, racketeering and official misconduct crimes. While the prosecution makes charges appropriate to Tony Soprano, it does not allege the violence, threats, bribes and kickbacks that Tony Soprano engaged in. There are no broken legs or visits from Paulie Walnuts. Just a few curse words that might stand out in Topeka, but I suspect they refer to another day at the office in South Jersey.

The state’s 111-page indictment is based almost entirely on the rhetoric Norcross used in a series of real estate transactions with other New Jersey businessmen. The State’s main theory is that Norcross and the other defendants “blackmailed and coerced” another real estate developer into agreeing to sell (for millions of dollars) certain (unused) properties along the Camden waterfront.

The “smoking gun” evidence does not involve weapons; The point is that Norcross told his opponent that there would be “consequences” if that opponent did not honor his deal, and that Norcross said: “If you screw this up, I’m going to screw you like you’ve never been screwed before. I will make sure you never do business in this town again.”

Much like Claude Rains was surprised to discover gambling at an unlicensed casino, prosecutors appear to be shocked that New Jersey businessmen sometimes insult and threaten each other during business negotiations.

I see the world more realistically and suspect that the courts in New Jersey will too.

From where I sit, there is little daylight between the Norcross negotiations and the time a driver on the Jersey Turnpike decided to “negotiate” with me about which lane I should drive in. And yes, I gave in to his arguments about my suitability for it.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the law does not support the implementation of Sunday school rules for all business transactions in the Garden State. Courts have unanimously held that the laws in question – which are essentially based on extortion – do not extend to “hard bargaining” in the context of a commercial transaction on independent terms. In fact, the official commentary on New Jersey’s penal code specifically addresses “threats” like the one here from the state’s racketeering laws.

And for good reason. Our free market system is based on a robust market; and that market operates through competition, which sometimes requires leverage, overreach and heavy-handed tactics. Aggressive negotiating tactics are not crimes – they are capitalism. By attempting to control the rhetoric of businessmen in their negotiations, the state is expanding these criminal laws beyond recognition.

The indictment also accuses Norcross of “official misconduct,” but that accusation makes even less sense. The only official involved — former Camden mayor Dana Redd — is barely mentioned. And her alleged “misconduct” involves temporarily not answering calls from a real estate developer at the behest of Philip Norcross (George’s brother). To put it mildly, temporarily ghosting a developer is not an abuse of authority – that is, committing an illegal act or violating a legal duty. It is a routine discretion not to answer a call. I do it all the time.

It is dangerous to make such serious allegations on such flimsy grounds. If the state’s primary theory prevails, it would impose criminal penalties on everyday business transactions throughout New Jersey. It would give prosecutors the ability to decide when hard bargaining becomes a felony and empower the attorney general to set courtesy rules for conducting business – and any businessman too mean could face prison time.

The defendants have moved to dismiss the State’s charges, and as far as I can tell, that motion should be granted. Being yelled at and having calls go unanswered is life in the big city, not a ticket to the big house.

If anyone involved in this case committed actual crimes, the state should prosecute them. But crimes should not be invented out of thin air to take down a longstanding target or make headlines. And it really looks like that’s what’s happening here.

James Burnham is a former senior White House and Justice Department official and a principal at King Street Legal. He has represented numerous people accused of corruption crimes, including former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, before the U.S. Supreme Court.

To comment on this comment, send a letter to [email protected].

Our journalism needs your support. Please Subscribe today To NJ.com.

bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.