Numerous media entities have joined in an amicus brief filed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, New Jersey Press Association, and ACLU of New Jersey in support of North Jersey Media Group’s Motion for Leave to Appeal to the Supreme Court in the case North Jersey Media Group v. Twp. of Lyndhurst, 441 N.J. Super. 70, 112-13 (App. Div. 2015). Pashman Stein represents Plaintiff in this case, which has drawn national attention due to the Appellate Division’s holding which significantly limited the public’s right of access to police records.
Pursuant to Section 5 of OPRA, a public agency must state the “specific basis” for denying access to government records. Those who request records frequently, however, know that it is not uncommon for a public agency to issue a blanket denial when you’ve requested a volume of records, rather than telling you specifically why each requested record is being withheld. Yesterday, a court awarded attorneys fees to Pashman Stein in litigation against a public agency who had refused to tell Plaintiff John Paff whether there were records responsive to his request and instead kept ...
As we previously blogged in our prior blog, Pashman Stein successfully defended a lawsuit against an OPRA requestor who had been sued by a government agency, Hamilton Township. Yesterday, the Press of Atlantic City published an editorial criticizing Hamilton’s actions. You can read the editorial here: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/opinion/editorials/public-records-people-want-more-openness-so-make-it-happen/article_101f85d1-d59c-5184-8dcd-b4a5a737d2b6.html
Our firm is proud of the results it has achieved for clients, some of which are noted ...
OPRA expressly provides that the right to institute any proceeding belongs “solely” to a records requestor. Despite this, there has been a recent trend in public agencies dragging OPRA requestors into court—often over requests that the requestor would have not have chosen to litigate.
One such case is Township of Hamilton v. Harry Scheeler, in which CJ Griffin of Pashman Stein represented Mr. Scheeler. Upon belief that the Township was not complying with the records retention schedule for video surveillance tapes, Mr. Scheeler filed an OPRA request for 30 days of video ...
Update: We have written extensively about this topic since this blog was published in 2015 and have filed successful suits for Facebook records. For updated content, click here, here, and here.
As the number of public agencies with a social media presence grows, questions arise regarding whether the content of the social media sites is a “government record” subject to OPRA. We believe that it is.
OPRA defines government records very broadly and includes “information stored or maintained electronically.” This should cover posts made on a public agency’s official ...
We have blogged before about a public agency’s requirement under the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) to make its meeting minutes “promptly” available to the public. Our courts have held that minutes must be made available within two weeks after a public meeting or, at a minimum, at least 48-hours prior to the next meeting. Those who regularly file requests for meeting minutes, however, are well aware that overwhelmingly public agencies fail to meet this timeline. Indeed, many, if not most, public agencies are months behind on releasing minutes to the public.
One such agency is ...
Partner Sam Samaro is representing North Jersey Media Group in an OPRA request to the NJ State Police for the release of documentation related to a fatal shooting. See link for the full article:
We close Sunshine Week by featuring Jennifer A. Borg, Esq.
Ms. Borg is General Counsel and Vice President of North Jersey Media Group, publisher of The Record. She is a recognized authority in First Amendment and open governance matters, particularly as they affect newspapers, and has recently served as Chair of the New Jersey Press Association. She also has litigated numerous OPRA lawsuits with successful results. Ms. Borg was featured in the ABA Journal (July 2014) for her expertise in OPRA and public records access issues. Pashman Stein regularly serves as co-counsel with North ...
Today’s Sunshine Week profile features Rich Rivera, a police practices expert who uses OPRA to monitor police misconduct and the use of force by police officers on citizens. Mr. Rivera is the Chairman of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey’s Civil Rights Protection Project, which addresses the community’s needs relating to police services and police interactions. He is a former Board Member of the ACLU of New Jersey, where he co-authored the report “The Crisis Inside Police Internal Affairs.” Pashman Stein has litigated several cases on Mr. Rivera’s behalf.
Today’s Sunshine Week profile focuses on Pat Gilleran, a client for whom Pashman Stein has litigated many OPRA matters. Pat is an open government and animal rights activist. Pat’s litigation has been instrumental in forcing non-profit business improvement districts to comply with OPRA’s provisions. Presently, Pashman Stein is defending an appeal on Pat’s behalf relating to video footage from a surveillance camera outside the Bloomfield Municipal Building. While the trial court ruled in Pat’s favor and held that the footage was subject to OPRA, Bloomfield has refused ...
