State v. New Jersey Trade Waste Ass'n

465 A.2d 596, 191 N.J. Super. 144, 1983 N.J. Super. LEXIS 949
CourtNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
DecidedJuly 25, 1983
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 465 A.2d 596 (State v. New Jersey Trade Waste Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. New Jersey Trade Waste Ass'n, 465 A.2d 596, 191 N.J. Super. 144, 1983 N.J. Super. LEXIS 949 (N.J. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

MEREDITH, J.S.C.

The New Jersey Antitrust Act, N.J.S.A. 56:9-1 et seq., provides that “Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce, in [148]*148this State, shall be unlawful.” N.J.S.A. 56:9-3. Under an indictment dated October 17, 1980 fifty-seven individuals, partnerships and corporations were charged with a violation of this statute in that they “knowingly engaged in a combination and conspiracy in unreasonable restraint of the business of providing garbage collection service to customers in the relevant area.” The indictment was dismissed as to several defendants, and several others were severed for trial. With the exception of eight defendants tried before a jury earlier this year, all the rest entered into plea agreements with the State, under which they pled guilty to a provision of the Solid Waste Utility Control Act of 1970, N.J.S.A. 48:13A-10 a. Of the eight defendants who went to trial, four were convicted and mistrials were declared as to the other four, the jury having been unable to reach a verdict as to their guilt or innocence. Those who were found to be guilty are Anthony Scioscia, Home & Industrial Disposal Service, Louis Spiegel, and Inter County Refuse Service, Inc. These defendants move for an order declaring the interdict provision of the New Jersey Antitrust Act to be unconstitutional. Joining in the motion are two defendants as to whom mistrials were declared, and who face retrial on the charge, Browning-Ferris Industries of Elizabeth, Inc., and John M. Gen-tempo.

The criminal penalty provision of the New Jersey Antitrust Act reads as follows:

a. Any person or corporation, or any officer or agent thereof, who shall knowingly violate any of the provisions of this act or aid or advise in such violation, or who, as principal, manager, director, stockholder owning 10% or more of the aggregate outstanding capital stock of all classes of the corporation, agent, servant or employee, knowingly does any act comprising a part of such violation, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 3 years or by a fine of not more than $50,000.00 or both; and if a corporation by a fine of not more than $100,000.00.
b. Any person convicted pursuant to the provisions of subsection a of this section is hereby denied the right and is hereby prohibited from managing or owning any business organization within this State, and from serving as an officer, director, trustee, member of any executive board or similar governing body, principal, manager, stockholder owning 10% or more of the aggregate [149]*149outstanding capital stock of all classes of any corporation doing business in this State, and all persons within this State, are hereby denied the right to handle the goods of or in any manner deal with, directly or indirectly, those persons, companies or corporations under the interdict specified herein. All persons knowingly violating any of the provisions of this section, either directly or indirectly, or aiding or abetting directly or indirectly in any violation of any provisions of this section, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than $100.00 nor more than $1,000.00 and shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than 30 days nor more than 6 months, and shall forfeit not less than $1,000.00 for each and every day such violation may continue, to be collected by a summary proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction.

N.J.S.A. 56:9-11. Section (b) of this statute is called the interdict provision. Although the Attorney General asserts and the defendants would no doubt gladly concur that the interdict does not apply to corporations but only to individuals,

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Related

Williams v. State
868 A.2d 1034 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 2005)
NJ Ass'n of Health Plans v. Farmer
777 A.2d 385 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 2000)
Matter of Scioscia
524 A.2d 855 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 1987)
Trade Waste Management Association, Inc. v. Hughey
780 F.2d 221 (Third Circuit, 1986)
Trade Waste Management Ass'n v. Hughey
780 F.2d 221 (Third Circuit, 1985)
State v. New Jersey Trade Waste Ass'n
476 A.2d 301 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 1984)

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Bluebook (online)
465 A.2d 596, 191 N.J. Super. 144, 1983 N.J. Super. LEXIS 949, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-new-jersey-trade-waste-assn-njsuperctappdiv-1983.