Justice Department Back NJ In Supreme Court Case Over Waterfront Commission

WASHINGTON — New Jersey gained a key ally in its legal battle with New York over the state's bid to withdraw from the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear: the Biden administration.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed an amicus brief stating that New Jersey has the right to leave the Waterfront Commission. The state of New York has claimed that New Jersey can't unilaterally withdraw from the partnership that began nearly 70 years ago.

The Supreme Court agreed in June to take on the case. The last deadline for the two states to file legal arguments is in late November, indicating the high court wouldn't hear the case until early 2023 before a ruling months later, according to the Associated Press.

The high court sided with New York in March, temporarily blocking New Jersey's withdrawal from the Waterfront Commission.

The bi-state commission formed in 1953 to investigate corruption on the waterfront at the Port Of New York-New Jersey. The Murphy administration has contended that organized crime has largely been driven out of the ports.

The commission hurts job growth by overregulating nearby businesses and making hiring more difficult, the state said in court filings. Employers of longshoremen and other dockworkers pay more than $17 million in annual assessments, which pays for the commission's enforcement activities, according to NJ Advance Media.

"This nearly 70-year-old commission is outdated and inefficient," Murphy said, "and it has become an impediment to economic growth at a time when over 80 percent of the goods that flow through the Port move through the New Jersey side. I look forward to this case being heard before the U.S. Supreme Court, and I am confident that New Jersey will finally be able to withdraw from this commission once and for all."

The Waterfront Commission has its own police force. State Police would take over law enforcement at the port under New Jersey's plan.

Around 90 percent of port activity occurs on the New Jersey side in Newark, Elizabeth and Bayonne, the AP reported. Most of the activity centered around New York in past decades.