A day after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out his conviction in the infamous Bridgegate case, Bill Baroni filed to get his suspension from the practice of law lifted.
Attorneys for the former Republican state senator filed motions with the New Jersey Supreme Court, the federal District Court and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on Friday, seeking to reinstate Baroni.
Within hours, the Court of Appeals in Washington lifted its previously imposed interim suspension, acknowledging the high court ruling that overturned Baroni’s criminal conviction. At the same time, it ordered that a disciplinary proceeding be dismissed.
“This is the final chapter in this long, tragic story,” said Baroni’s attorney, Stephen M. Orlofsky of BlankRome. “By doing this, we’re hoping to restore Mr. Baroni’s good name in the community."
Baroni, who had served as deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and Jersey, and Bridget Anne Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Chris Christie, had been charged with fraud and conspiracy in connection with a plan to purposely tie up traffic around the George Washington Bridge. Prosecutors said it was all part of a bizarre scheme of political retribution against a mayor who had backed away from an expected endorsement of Christie in his 2013 bid for re-election as governor.
In its unanimous decision, the high court found that the two did not violate federal law. The court’s opinion, though, was not without sharp criticism.
“The evidence the jury heard no doubt shows wrongdoing — deception, corruption, abuse of power. But the federal fraud statutes at issue do not criminalize all such conduct,” wrote Justice Elena Kagan for the full court.
In the two filings in New Jersey on Friday and the separate one in Washington, Baroni cited the reversal of his criminal conviction, and sought that his suspensions in the state and federal courts be vacated. The New Jersey Supreme Court had temporarily suspended Baroni from the practice of law a week after he was sentenced, pending ethics proceedings against him.
A graduate of the University of Virginia Law School and a former Republican state senator from Mercer County, Baroni had been an adjunct law professor at Seton Hall School of Law before his conviction.
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Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com.