Today, Pashman Stein Walder Hayden P.C. secured an appellate victory for two long-term firm clients, Richard Rivera and Collene Wronko.
The case involved OPRA requests for records from the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office (MCPO) which related to an incident where police officers shot and killed a man outside his home in Old Bridge. Both Mr. Rivera and Ms. Wronko sought access to the 9-1-1 call of the incident, as well as other police records, such as CAD reports and Standard Operating Procedures. Their requests were denied.
After lawsuits were filed, MCPO eventually released a ...
Today, Pashman Stein Walder Hayden P.C. secured a victory for our client, Jennifer Coombs, in an OPRA case against the Borough of Westwood.
Ms. Coombs had requested payroll records from Westwood for all employees working for the Borough in 2017. Westwood responded to Ms. Coombs' request by providing a payroll report, but redacting the names of numerous employees from it. Westwood stated that the redacted names were of minor employees who worked in the summer recreation program and that they were entitled to privacy. After Ms. Coombs objected, Westwood released a new version of the ...
Last week, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal issued Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive No. 2018-1, which provides instructions to law enforcement agencies in this State regarding public access to dash camera and body camera footage of police-involved shootings. We find that there are both pros and cons to this new directive.
Pros:
On one hand, we are very happy to see that the new Attorney General clearly understands that transparency advances public trust in law enforcement. The overall spirit of this directive is positive and it recognizes that law enforcement do not need ...
