Jersey City to Face Daily Fines for Not Reinstating Cops Fired for Using Cannabis

Jersey City could begin facing daily fines starting Saturday for refusing to reinstate two police officers whose terminations over their cannabis usage were overturned by the state Civil Service Commission.

The state will fine the city $100 daily for each officer — Norhan Mansour and Omar Polanco — with a total maximum of $20,000. Saturday will mark 31 days since the Civil Service Commission gave the city one month to rehire the officers.

Michael Rubas, attorney for the cops plus three others who were disciplined for their cannabis consumption, said he has inquired with the city police department four times since Aug. 2 about their jobs. Rubas said that Mansour and Polanco remained unemployed as of Friday.

A Jersey City spokeswoman didn’t respond when asked if the city would pay the fines or reinstate the officers. City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said the department plans to appeal.

“As the liable entity, we will appeal as the Civil Service Commission continues to avoid the principal cause at the center of this legal dispute,” she said in a statement.

This comes on the heels of Rubas filing a wrongful termination lawsuit on behalf of Mackenzie Reilly, one of the other officers fired for using marijuana. Rubas says in the lawsuit that Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop is terminating cops to bring attention to his 2025 gubernatorial campaign.

“He has lost at every turn including in Federal Court. His actions have cost the taxpayers of Jersey City hundreds of thousands of dollars in needless attorney’s fees with much more to come,” Rubas said in a statement Friday. “Now, those same taxpayers will be liable for thousands of dollars in fines because he refuses to comply with the lawful reinstatement orders.”

The city has already lost several battles in its crusade against cops using cannabis. The legal fight began when Fulop said he would defy a 2022 memo from Attorney General Matt Platkin that said the state’s marijuana legalization law allows police officers to consume legal cannabis off duty. Jersey City Public Safety Director James Shea sued the state over this, arguing federal law bans people who use cannabis from owning firearms and ammunition, including police officers.

But the Civil Service Commission and administrative law judges have ruled that the federal guns statute does not preempt the state’s cannabis law. They’ve come to the same decision in three cases regarding Jersey City cops — Mansour, Polanco, and Reilly, whose case was decided last week.

The commission reversed Mansour’s “unlawful removal” on Aug. 2, 2023, and she was awarded back pay, seniority, benefits, and counsel fees. Polanco’s case was decided on Sept. 20, 2023, with the same outcome.

The commission denied the city’s request for reconsideration and granted Mansour and Polanco’s requests that it fine Jersey City for not rehiring them. Rubas said no enforcement action has been filed for Reilly because the city can still ask the commission to reconsider that ruling.

Fulop continues to play political games, Rubas said.

“Mayor Fulop is the epitome of the saying ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely,’” Rubas said.