Rivera v. Borough of Westwood, Docket No. BER-L-2597-22

CJ Griffin filed a lawsuit on behalf of Richard Rivera, seeking common law access to an internal affairs report relating to an officer listed in the Attorney General’s 2021 Major Discipline Report as having received a 15-day suspension. Although the Attorney General’s directive requires agencies to disclose the transgression that led to discipline, some agencies, like Westwood, violated the directive and did not disclose what the officer did to be punished. The trial court compelled disclosure of the internal affairs report so the public could learn the officer’s transgression and required the agency to pay the firm’s legal fees. This was the first decision to apply Rivera v. Union County Prosecutor’s Office, 250 N.J. 124 (2022).

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