Access to public records is a fundamental part of the public’s ability to hold public agencies accountable for their actions, says the ACLU. Attorney CJ Griffin, vice president of the ACLU-NJ Board of Trustees and partner at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden P.C. explains that the” Open Public Records Act is the law that allows members of the public to access public records – documents created by public agencies at all levels, from local towns to the state government. OPRA designates which of those records the public can access and the process by which they can request them from the appropriate records custodian.”
Also important is the ability of any resident to be able to find information and to contact public officials.
These matters are at the heart of a recent court decision resulting from litigation against the Township of Berkeley Heights and the Berkeley Heights Public School District.
After an OPRA request by NJ21st Editor John Migueis was filed for documents related to the Lower Columbia field, the redaction of email addresses for some of those involved in communication between the town and the school district was contested. The custodians of these records said that the email addresses did not have to be revealed.
However, in filing a suit over the issue, the Plaintiff claimed that since the communication was from volunteers working in their official capacity for the town, the email addresses should be provided.
In a hearing presided over by Judge John M. Deitch, the Plaintiff’s attorney, Walter M. Leurs (Cohn Lifland Pearlman Herrmann & Knopf LLP,) argued that by obscuring these email addresses, a “two-tiered” level of access is created and that the Plaintiff is entitled to the same freedom of communication that the volunteers and involved parties enjoy among themselves. He also stated that due to the Plaintiff’s position as someone publicly involved in publishing information about items of interest about the town and school district, that this satisfies the “interest” criteria in having email addresses available.
The court found that volunteers have no reasonable expectation of privacy when fulfilling duties on behalf of a public entity, and that email addresses used in government-related communications are part of the public record.
If the privacy of email addresses were a concern, the judge advised that the Township could issue government emails, instead of relying on private ones. An argument Mr. Migueis made repeatedly in his communication with the Township and BOE.
The judge reminded the parties that OPRA must always be construed in favor of disclosure.
The Judge also found that the records qualify for release under the Common Law Right of Access, which requires a balancing of public interest against privacy concerns. In this case, the judge determined that the public interest in transparency outweighed the privacy arguments raised by the Township.
Importantly, the Court declared Migueis the prevailing party and authorized him to seek attorneys’ fees and costs.
That finding reinforces the Court’s conclusion that the denial of access was not justified under the law.
The conclusion is blunt:
“Plaintiff’s application is granted.”
This is not a narrow procedural win. Factors affected are Common Law Right of Access, OPRA statutory analysis, privacy balancing tests, and legislative intent.
Attorney Walter Leurs commented, “We’re pleased with the Court’s decision, which in our opinion is consistent with existing law regarding the disclosure of private email addresses that are used to conduct public business under OPRA.”
Court Ruling Summary
The case stemmed from an OPRA request seeking email logs related to public discussions about the proposed turf field, where public business was conducted through private email accounts of public officials under the label of “volunteers.”
- The Court ordered the Township and School District to provide unredacted email logs within 20 days, including names and email addresses.
- The judge confirmed the emails are public records under both OPRA and the Common Law Right of Access.
- Applying OPRA’s privacy standard, the Court found there was no objectively reasonable expectation of privacy for email addresses used in public business.
- Under the Burnett balancing factors, the Court ruled the public interest in disclosure outweighed the Township and School District’s privacy concerns.
- The Court described the Township and School District’s concerns about misuse or harassment as speculative and not a valid basis to deny access.
- The judge concluded the Township and School District unreasonably denied access under OPRA.
- The plaintiff was declared the prevailing party and may apply for attorneys’ fees and costs.
- The decision ends clearly: “Plaintiff’s application is granted.”
[See ALL Articles NJ21st Published as a Result of OPRA Requests]
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