Save Access to Open Public Records Act (OPRA)
- Kin Gee
- Mar 9, 2024
- 1 min read
Updated: Mar 11, 2024
Edited March 11, 2024, 9:15 AM to include Star-Ledger Editorial on the OPRA bill.
The New Jersey Legislature has fast-tracked a bill that would gut the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) and make it harder for the press, activists and everyday citizens to shine a light on government functions.
Read the Star-Ledger/NJ.com Editorial and article on this bill.
Here is also an excerpt from the League of Women Voters of New Jersey (“LWV”):
It will limit the public’s ability to hold government accountable. Among other things, the bill:
· Exempts email and call logs, while also making it incredibly difficult to request emails at all
· Guts fee-shifting making it difficult for the public and even the media to sue to gain access to records
· Sets up additional unnecessary hurdles for the public to request documents or receive them in their requested formats
· Creates a vague and subjective "harassment" loophole that will lead to unreasonable redactions and request denials
· Establishes an unbalanced task force charged with examining public access to police records without meaningful community or stakeholder engagement
The bill is scheduled for a vote in their respective Senate and Assembly committees this coming Monday, March 11th.
Please say NO to this anti-transparency legislation.
Let’s put New Jersey’s public interest first!
The LWV has created a great tool that will make it very easy for you to send an email directly to your respective State Senator and Assembly representatives to vote NO on S2930/A4045.
Please do this today!
Thank you.
Kin Gee
Editor
Better Holmdel
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