Clarence Norman Jr.

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Clarence Norman Jr. (b. August 25, 1951) is an American politician from the state of New York. He was the former chairman of the Kings County Democratic Party and member of the New York State Assembly from the 43rd Assembly District in Central Brooklyn, which includes Crown Heights and parts of Flatbush and Prospect Heights.

He was convicted of three felony counts of accepting illegal campaign contributions during his 2000 and 2002 re-election campaigns for his seat in the New York State Assembly and is currently serving a jail sentence.

1 Political Career
2 The Criminal Cases
3 His Successors
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Political Career

[edit] Beginnings

Clarence Norman Jr. is the son of Clarence Norman, the extremely politically influential head pastor of the First Baptist Church of Crown Heights.

After earning degrees from both Howard University and St. John's School of Law he entered the world of politics, first serving as general counsel to the New York State Assembly Subcommittee on Probation and Parole. He would later serve within the Kings County District Attorney's office for five years as an Assistant District Attorney in the felony bureau. In 1982 Norman would be elected for the first time to the New York State Assembly from the 43rd Assembly District District in Central Brooklyn, which includes Crown Heights and parts of Flatbush and Prospect Heights.

He served as District Leader from 1986-1993. In 1990, Norman became the first African-American, and the youngest Democrat, to be elected as chairman of the Executive Committee of the Kings COunty Democratic County Committee. Heading the largest county Democratic organization in the country, Norman became an even more influential powerbroker, on a municipal, statewide, and even national level.

[edit] Prominent Democrat

In addition to being a member of the Assembly for 23 years, and head of the Kings County Democratic Party for 15, Norman also held a number of other prominent positions within the city, state, and national Democratic Party.

Delegate to the Democratic National Convention, 2000 and 2004
Presidential Elector from New York, 2000
Member of Democratic National Committee from New York, 2004
Assistant Majority Leader of the New York State Assembly

[edit] Challenges

Re-elected easily from an overwhelmingly Democratic district, the first major challenge to Norman's political power base in Brooklyn came in 1998, when NYPD officer, minister-and future City Councilman-James E. Davis ran against him in a Democratic primary. Although Norman emerged victorious from that race, he was only re-elected by merely 677 (580) votes. The extremely slim margin of this victory signaled the first chinks in Norman's previously impregnable political armor.

[edit] The Criminal Cases

[edit] Origin Of Criminal Cases

The verdict on Clarence Norman's campaign practices stemmed from an investigation initiated by Kings County District Attorney Charles "Joe" Hynes in 2003, which originally focused on the numerous allegations of judgeships in the borough being sold to wealthy campaign donors within the Democratic Party.

That year a Brooklyn judge, Gerald P. Garson, was discovered on tape taking money from an attorney who was part of the District Attorney's office. In order to avoid a lengthy charges, and a potentially lengthy prison sentence or fine, he informed investigators that he was aware of a much broader scheme whereby prospective candidates purchased their seats on the bench.

In April of 2003 DA Hynes alleged that the system through which candidates for State Supreme Court judgeships were selected was not democratic, and essentially involved an exchange of seats in return for campaign contributions to prominent Democratic Party officeholders and powerbrokers.

[edit] Acquittal

On March 26 of this year Norman was acquitted of charges that he had stolen over $5,000 in travel expenses-reimbursement-between the state capital (Albany) and Brooklyn, which involved a motor vehicle that the Kings County Democratic Party had paid for.

This was his first acquittal in three trials.

[edit] Outstanding Charges

Norman still faces prosecution on a fourth charge, which involves the initial source of this investigation, i.e. accusations of extortion involving prospective judicial candidates. In this case, the charge that his support of judicial candidates was contingent upon their use of a specific printer he and his organization had ties to.

[edit] Convictions

In September 27, 2005 a multiracial Brooklyn jury found him guilty of violating New York's election law and falsifying business records when he did not report contributions to his campaign's treasurer, Carmen Martinez. The charges involved a request of the New York State Association of Service Stations and Repair Shops-a lobbying group for the auto industry-to pay campaign funds in excess of $10,000, even though the legal threshold in New York State is $3,100 for Assembly candidates, in both party primaries and general elections. The Prosecution argued that Norman had asked for campaign contributions of $7,500 in 2000, and $5,400 during his subsequent election campaign.

In December of that same year Norman was convicted once again. This time, on charges that he stole $5,000 that was donated to his re-election campaign in 2001 and deposited it into his personal bank account. The donation in question was a check written by a political club under Norman's control. It was intended for his campaign committee.

On February 23, 2007 Norman was once again convicted. This time, on charges of grand larceny and illegally soliciting campaign contributions. While he was acquitted on five other counts of the original indictment he vowed to appeal the latest conviction. ^[1]

[edit] Penalties

As a result of his convictions Norman has been forced to resign from his position as chairman of the Kings County Democratic Party, member of the Assembly from the 43rd District, and has been disbarred.

Norman is currently serving a jail sentence.

[edit] His Successors

After Norman's conviction, a special election was held to determine who would succeed him in the 43rd Assembly District. Karim Camara, who is a member of the church where Clarence Norman Sr. is pastor, won that election overwhelmingly, defeating two opponents, one of whom was the brother of former City Councilman-and Norman rival-James E. Davis. ^[2]

Assemblyman Vito Lopez eventually replaced Norman as leader of the Kings County Democratic Party, winning a ballot with the support of 28 county leaders. ^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Preceded by Rhoda Jacobs	New York State Assembly, 43rd District 1983–2005	Succeeded by Karim Camara