NJ Supreme Court fails to close door on “first strike” suits by public agencies. Legislature must step up.

The Editors of the New Jersey Law Journal have written an excellent commentary piece on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s 8/3/2017 decision in the case of Jeff Carter v. NJ State Firemen’s Association (NJSFA) (A-68-15). Below is NJFOG’s short summary of the case and court findings. We recommend reading the Editorial for greater detail. Background: Read More …

Appellate Division rules for release of dog bite dashcam video

On June 30, 2016, the NJ Appellate Division issued a published (and thus precedential) decision in John Paff v. Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Docket No. A-4226-14T3, an OPRA case seeking release of a police dashcam video depicting a police dog attack on a female motorist. A three-judge panel voted 2-1 to affirm a lower court Read More …

Amicus brief in the appeal of the Lyndhurst decision, which curtailed access to police records

Groups are lining up against the NJ Appellate Division’s Lyndhurst decision that made virtually all criminal records exempt under OPRA. The case is being appealed to the NJ Supreme Court.  Also see our post, “Fallout of the Appellate Division’s Lyndhurst Ruling”.   -NJFOG American Society of News Editors (ASNE) By ASNE staff 10/06/2015 (Available online here and Read More …

EDITORIAL: Put openness on government’s agenda

Interpreting the term “agenda” in the the outdated OPMA, the Appellate Division ruled on Aug. 18 in Opderbeck v. Midland Park Board of Education that the board does not need to provide supplementary documents with its meeting agendas. However, the Court called for modernization of the outdated law to coincide with today’s simplified means of Read More …

Fallout of the Appellate Division’s Lyndhurst ruling

NJFOG previously posted an article about the June 11 Appellate Court ruling in North Jersey Media Group, Inc. v. Township of Lyndhurst. The decision, available here, severely restricts access to a wide range of law enforcement records that many trial courts had previously opined are public. The inevitable fallout of the Lyndhurst decision is now being felt Read More …