JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) - A New Jersey appeals court on Wednesday rejected a challenge to a state law that strips pension benefits from public employees convicted of crimes.
The appeal was filed by former Jersey City police chief Philip Zacche, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to accepting about $24,000 for off-duty work he didn’t perform.
Zacche served on the Jersey City police force from 1979 and was police chief from 2014 until his retirement in mid-2017. Facing federal charges, he admitted defrauding the city’s housing authority between 2010 and 2014 by submitting time sheets reflecting he had completed certain security shifts even though he wasn’t present at the site.
After a federal judge sentenced Zacche to two years’ probation, a state judge barred him from future public employment and stripped his pension benefits, which included about $12,000 per month and partially subsidized health insurance.
Zacche argued in his appeal that losing his pension amounted to a violation of his constitutional rights to due process and equal protection, and that applying the sanction to crimes involving more than $10,000 was arbitrary.
In Wednesday’s ruling, the three judge-panel wrote that pension forfeiture, while a harsh punishment, is “a legitimate and appropriate consequence of dishonorable conduct.”
Zacche’s attorney said he is reviewing the ruling.
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