N.Y. Waterfront Commission Can’t Keep New Jersey in Compact

A suit against New Jersey’s governor to keep the state from withdrawing from the compact that created the New York Waterfront Commission must be dismissed, the Third Circuit said Friday.

The state was the real party in interest and it’s protected by sovereign immunity, the opinion by Chief Judge D. Brooks Smith said.

New York and New Jersey adopted laws that created the commission to fight corruption on their docks, and the U.S. Congress consented to the compact. The commission was funded through assessments on harbor employers.

Through the years, however, the workforce shifted from New York to New Jersey’s ...