“Sopranos” Reference Is Not a Hit With the Appellate Division

In re John’s Main Auto Body, 2011 WL 51578 (App. Div. Jan. 6, 2011).  An auto body business, John’s, appealed a determination by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority that John’s did not meet prequalification requirements for bidding on towing and other Turnpike work.  The Appellate Division rejected all of John’s arguments and affirmed the decision of the Turnpike Authority.

Among other arguments, John’s urged the Appellate Division to “curtail the power vested in the Turnpike or risk the bidding process being further corrupted.”  That argument “include[d] a diatribe against the Authority, with references to ‘The Sopranos’ and the novel Soprano State.”  The court found that argument not worthy of discussion in a written opinion.  Even referring to a hit television show could not salvage this argument for John’s.