The New Jersey NAACP is defending George Norcross and his allies in the racketeering case. Camden activists are concerned

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The NAACP New Jersey State Conference’s participation in an amicus brief on behalf of South Jersey Democratic power broker George E. Norcross III is not landing well with some Camden activists.

“I was appalled,” said Keith Benson Sr., a community activist who has been involved with the NAACP since the early 1990s, adding that the state NAACP’s participation in the brief violates the organization’s protocols.

“Richard [T.] Smith, the [state conference] president, cannot speak for the NAACP without having to express written consent of the executive committee,” Benson said. “For him to do that is ridiculous and for him to do that for a man who’s indicted, and indicted for good reason, is appalling.”

The state NAACP is part of a coalition of labor unions arguing that the indictment against South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross, former Camden Mayor Dana Redd and others would hamper their ability “to advocate in the political arena, bargain for fair working conditions, and redevelop blighted communities.”

The New Jersey State AFL-CIO, New Jersey Building and Construction Trades Council and the New Jersey NAACP State Conference said in their second amici brief, filed in June, that the charges against Norcross and his allies infringed on free speech.

The arguments are similar to the ones made in their December brief, where they sought permission to participate before Judge Peter Warshaw, who dismissed the indictment.

State prosecutors have appealed the decision. No date has been set for a hearing before the Appellate Division. Norcross, meanwhile, is welcoming the coalition’s support.

“Mr. Norcross is pleased that so many individuals and organizations — from the NAACP and AFL-CIO, the Bar Association, the American College of Trial Lawyers, and, of course, the judge who dismissed the case — have recognized that the Attorney General’s case was meritless and more about playing politics than seeking justice,” said Daniel Fee, spokesman for George Norcross, in a statement. “Of course, the case against Mr. Norcross and his allies in Camden’s renaissance is not the only embarrassing defeat the Attorney General’s Office has had under Matt Platkin, but it’s still a shame that people who have dedicated so much of their time and energy to rebuilding Camden have been targeted just so that Mr. Platkin can play politics.”

Darnell Hardwick, a community activist who was active in NAACP Camden County Branch #2080 until it was suspended in 2021, said he was not happy when he learned about the organization throwing their support behind Norcross.

“When I found out about the brief, things changed for me a little bit because I was very disappointed that the New Jersey State Conference NAACP signed on to it,” he said.

Hardwick said he was leading investigations for the branch that focused on three issues cited in the indictment against Norcross and the alleged criminal enterprise: implementing charter schools, turning the Camden city police force into a county squad and creating tax credits for businesses that move to Camden.

“Why would the state conference sign on to dismiss the case without hearing what actually the grand jury heard?” asked Hardwick, who was involved in the branch for 20 years and was at one time the labor and industry chair for the state conference.

New Jersey NAACP sees indictment as First Amendment violation

Gregg Zeff, legal redress chair of the New Jersey NAACP State Conference, said the organization has “long stepped in where they felt that somebody was wrongly arrested or charged with a crime.”

Though the state NAACP has not taken a position on the racketeering charges against Norcross and his alleged enterprise, they see the indictment as a violation of the First Amendment and an overreach by Platkin. They are mostly upset about Redd.

“We see what we believe is an African American politician who was doing all she could to make Camden better, being subject to criminal indictment because of doing good for the city and for speaking out,” he said.

Benson took an exception to Zeff evoking Redd’s race.

“I can bring you a chorus of people from Camden that live here and are African American that say she did not do what she could for Camden,” he said. “She missed every opportunity to do what she could do for Camden. She did what she could do for her corrupt boss, which is, one, George Norcross.”

Is the use of profanity ok during business negotiations?

Prosecutors alleged that Norcross threatened developer Carl Dranoff after he failed to persuade him to extinguish the view easement for Victor Lofts, a waterfront residential development.

“If you f*** this up, I’ll f*** you up like you’ve never been f***ed up before. I’ll make sure you never do business in this town again,” Norcross told Dranoff during a 2016 conference call, according to the indictment.

Defense attorneys said that Norcross was engaged in “classic hard bargaining.” Judge Peter Warshaw agreed, describing the exchange as “a steel cage brawl between two heavyweights.”

Zeff concedes Norcross’ use of profanity was inappropriate, but said people have a right to use the f-word.

“Nobody is saying that it is not rude,” he said. “To say that someone should be indicted and that the mayor of a city should be indicted because someone else said that is incredibly terrifying in a nation where the rule of law is supposed to prevail.”

The coalition argues that reinstatement of the indictment would impede on their ability to advocate for their members and constituencies.

“Civil rights groups have historically resorted to similarly unorthodox tactics, famously in the form of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, to ensure equality,” the brief stated.

Zeff said the NAACP believes that language is protected “in the heat of battle.”

“Not just for our members, but for when we’re advocating as well and what is said behind closed doors and what is said in public should be protected,” he said.

Activists call the NAACP’s support ‘hypocritical’

Benson and Hardwick said the New Jersey’s NAACP’s stance on Norcross was hypocritical because the conference suspended the NAACP branch the two of them belonged to, citing the First Amendment. According to the state NAACP conference, the branch was suspended due to “behavior inimical to the well running of our historic organization.”

“They disenfranchised 478 members of our branch when there was a handful of people that were disrupting the meetings,” Hardwick said. “That part was unfair.”

“The hypocrisy and the paradoxes are comical if they weren’t so sad and so many people weren’t suffering and died,” Benson said.

Hardwick added the indictment against the Norcross Enterprise has nothing to do with the First Amendment.

“This is a RICO case,” he said, referencing the state law used to prosecute organized crime and corruption. “Why is our alleged position in there that we’re fighting for someone’s First Amendment and to speak that way because we can’t talk that way to people?”

Hardwick believes that Zeff and Smith were responsible for the New Jersey NAACP’s participation in the brief and that the national organization is not aware of what’s going on.

“I get nothing out of this,” he said. “My reward is knowing that I helped someone else.”

Benson said Smith is “out of order” and could be removed as state conference president “if national ever pays attention.”

“I don’t think national’s complicit, I just think they’re not paying attention,” he said. “These violations are so egregious and so ridiculous.”

Smith did not respond to a request for comment.

The national NAACP office didn’t respond to interview requests. According to the organization’s bylaws and a legal redress training presentation obtained by WHYY News, any legal action requires authorization from the president and CEO and general counsel of the national NAACP.

When seeking authorization, the local executive committee must provide information on why the unit wants to engage in litigation and provide the position that is to be taken. In addition, the unit must provide information on the attorneys who will represent the unit, the fee arrangement and the description of the factual background and legal claims being asserted.

It is not clear whether authorization for the New Jersey conference was given. Zeff also did not respond when asked about the protocol to enter into legal action. Smith told The Jersey Vindicator last January that he was personally responsible for the brief and did not seek permission from the NAACP’s executive committee.

Smith, who has been president of the state conference since 2013, is also a board member of Cooper University Health Care, where George Norcross is board chair.

Zeff dismissed the connection and questions about a conflict of interest as “silly.”

“I’m sure the activists have said many things about Richard Smith and [George] Norcross and everybody else, but ask them what they’ve done for Camden,” he said.

Benson said he ran and funded a program on his own that helped more than 30 young men graduate college.

“Why haven’t I got a dime to expand, scale my program?” he said. “Why hasn’t Norcross or his allies acknowledged the work that Robert Dickerson, Tim Merrill and others have done in the city?”

Hardwick said the now-suspended branch is the reason why the Camden County Police Department has reformed.

“When they first came in… Chief [J. Scott] Thompson was using the broken windows theory,” he said. “We were doing open public records requests to learn what was really going on.”