Continuing with our Sunshine Week theme, today’s blog focuses on Harry Scheeler. Recently, CJ Griffin of Pashman Stein secured a victory on Mr. Scheeler’s behalf against the Office of the Governor, which had denied access to RSVP lists for those attending Governor Christie’s Town Halls.
Interview with Harry Scheeler:
- When and how did you initially become interested in the open government movement?
I first became interested in open government as a teenager. In the early 1990s the police department in my hometown was given cell phones for the purpose of calling judges for ...
It’s Sunshine Week– a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. This week on the blog we will feature some of Pashman Stein’s clients who are open government activists or journalists and highlight some proposed changes to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA) that are currently pending in the Legislature.
Today we feature Collene Wronko, an open government and animal rights activist from Middlesex County. Ms. Wronko and her husband, Steve, have led a group of dedicated activists who have used OPRA to ...
News broke this week that Hillary Rodham Clinton exclusively used her personal email account to conduct government business while she was Secretary of State. Unfortunately, this practice occurs quite frequently at the local levels of government and it has the potential to undermine government transparency, as it allows public officials to conduct public business behind closed doors. New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) is broad enough, however, to require such emails to be produced.
OPRA defines a “government record” as any document (including ...
On February 4, 2015, CJ Griffin of Pashman Stein secured a victory for Harry Scheeler, a prominent open-government activist, in a case against the Office of the Governor which alleged violations of the Open Public Records Act.
In September, Mr. Scheeler requested RSVP lists from Governor Chris Christie’s “town hall” meetings. The Governor’s Office denied the request, stating that the lists could not be released based on the privacy provisions of OPRA and Executive Order 26.
Mr. Scheeler filed suit in the Superior Court, alleging an OPRA violation. After litigation, the ...
Recently, Pashman Stein, PC secured a victory in the case North Jersey Media Group v. Township of Lyndhurst, et al. Below are links to media covering this important decision, in which the Hon. Peter E. Doyne, A.J.S.C., ruled that the Defendant public agencies violated OPRA and compelled the Defendants to produce records relating to the police shooting of a man in Lyndhurst in September 2014.
http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2015/01/judge_orders_release_of_records_in_fatal_bergen_co.html
Our firm is proud of the results it has achieved for clients, some of which are ...
As it appeared on New Jersey Law Journal, January 13, 2015 in regards to Pashman Stein's representation.
Police records related to the shooting of a black man who was killed by officers after he allegedly rammed them with an SUV must be released to the public immediately and without redaction, a New Jersey state trial judge has ruled, citing the heightened need for public access to information in the wake of the killings of African-American males by police in Ferguson, Mo., and Staten Island, N.Y.
“The defendants’ refusals to disclose and utter lack of cooperation was undoubtedly ...
Published in New Jersey Corporate Counsel's Newsletter, December 2014 Issue
Those who frequently litigate are aware that the discovery process often involves numerous components, including interrogatories, document demands, subpoenas, depositions, and requests for admissions. In addition to these traditional tools, New Jersey offers an additional discovery mechanism that is often overlooked: the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”), N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1, et seq. When a dispute involves a public agency, public property, or public resources, OPRA can be an important ...
Whether a public agency can charge for records provided in response to an OPRA request depends on the circumstances. There are important guidelines to remember.
- Electronic copies of records should ordinarily be free of charge, so most requestors seek them in that format. When making your request, simply ask that the records be emailed to you.
- If a requestor wants a hard copy of a record, the public agency may charge 5 cents per letterhead size copy and 7 cents per legal paper size copy. A public agency may not charge more unless they can prove that their “actual costs” are higher.
- If the ...
It is common that a requestor will seek a record that is required by law to be made. Thinking that she is being helpful to the Records Custodian and making her request clearer, the requestor will often cite the particular law when making her request. Requestors who do this should be careful, as Records Custodians will often deny the request on the basis that it requires them to perform "research."
A good example of this issue occurred in the case Bart v. Passaic County Public Housing Agency, 406 N.J. Super. 445 (App. Div. 2009). There, the requestor (Bart) sought "signs currently posted in ...
