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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.

Breakwater’s Allegations of Bias Rejected

Breakwater argued that Asbury Park officials were swayed by competitors and personal bias. But Judge Shipp dismissed those claims, calling them mere assertions of “improper motives,” insufficient to trigger constitutional protections.

The company, already licensed to operate elsewhere, filed suit after Asbury Park passed an ordinance banning all cannabis businesses. By August 2022, the city doubled down with a clarifying resolution reaffirming its prohibition, shutting out Breakwater before its application even landed.

Despite alleging discrimination, arbitrary deprivation of property rights, and political favoritism, the court concluded the city’s actions remained tethered to its legitimate interest in enforcing local ordinances.

A Legal Saga of Repeated Dismissals

This was not Breakwater’s first courtroom defeat. In April 2024, Judge Shipp dismissed most of its claims without prejudice and permanently barred its Fifth Amendment arguments. By February 2025, another attempt failed when the judge found no evidence of conduct “so egregious as to shock the conscience.”

The latest ruling seals the company’s fate in this legal marathon — a clear escape route for the city, leaving Breakwater with no remaining claims.

The Players Behind the Case

• Asbury Park’s mayor and planning director were represented by R. Scott Fahrney of Semeraro & Fahrney LLC.

• The zoning board and members had counsel from Kevin J. O’Connor of Lum Drasco & Positan LLC.

• Breakwater was represented by Stephen Jay Edelstein of Weiner Law Group LLP.

Neither side immediately responded to requests for comment.