In a courtroom drama that has stretched across years, Breakwater Treatment and Wellness Corp. has once again watched its case collapse. For the third time, a New Jersey federal judge has tossed the cannabis company’s lawsuit accusing Asbury Park and its zoning board of conspiring to block its medical marijuana dispensary.
U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp delivered the ruling Wednesday, granting dismissal motions with prejudice filed by the city, municipal officials, and the zoning board. Breakwater claimed the city violated its constitutional rights by orchestrating a scheme to derail its application.
Court Finds No “Conscience-Shocking” Misconduct
Judge Shipp’s opinion drew a sharp line between bureaucratic missteps and constitutional violations. Even if Asbury Park misapplied New Jersey’s cannabis law, CREAMMA, that alone was not enough to establish a due process claim.
“An error in interpreting state law or acting in bad faith … does not amount to an actionable claim,” the judge wrote, citing multiple precedents from the Third Circuit and Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The court reaffirmed that only the most egregious misconduct — corruption, self-dealing, ethnic bias, or obstruction of constitutional rights — can “shock the conscience.” Breakwater’s accusations, the judge said, fell well short of that bar.
