New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says he’s open to legislative changes to the state’s public records laws — if they don’t ultimately undermine transparency.
Murphy’s comments Wednesday night on WNYC’s monthly “Ask Governor Murphy”’ show come as lawmakers in Trenton are considering legislation journalists and good government groups describe as gutting the state’s Open Public Records Act, known as OPRA.
For more than two decades, the law has allowed anyone to request documents that are in the public record from a government agency and sets timeframes for providing the documents. Journalists use it routinely to get insights into police use of force; to investigate the Chris Christie-era Bridgegate scandal; to expose connections between powerful political figures and tax breaks that benefited their companies; to demonstrate there was lead in some Newark schools’ drinking water even after officials have said there wasn’t.
Activists and members of the public use it as well — for instance, to show when governments pay out big settlements to resolve claims of police misconduct, sexual harassment, or bullying in schools.
Legislation sponsored Sen. Paul Sarlo and Assemblyman Joe Danielsen, both Democrats, would make several changes to the law. It would let agencies deny requests made by residents who submit so many officials deem them nuisances — recalling the case of an 82-year-old woman who Irvington sued for submitting 75 requests over three years, claiming she was doing so to intimidate and harass public officials. Irvington ultimately dropped that case last year.
The bill would bar data brokers from obtaining public records, make “draft” documents produced by government agencies private, and let governments redact more information before releasing it to the public.
It would also do away with a requirement that the losing party pay attorneys’ fees in any lawsuit over documents a government agency failed to provide. The fee-shifting provision of…
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