CJ Griffin Quoted in northjersey.com Describing New Jersey Supreme Court Rulings as a “Sea Change” in Transparency
CJ Griffin, Director of the Justice Gary S. Stein Public Interest Center at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden, was quoted in the northjersey.com article, “Transparency: NJ Supreme Court says police must release internal affairs files.” The article discusses the recent New Jersey Supreme Court victory in which Griffin represented the plaintiff seeking the internal affairs records of the director of the Elizabeth Police Department who had been found to violate Elizabeth’s anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies. While acknowledging that police internal affairs reports are not subject to the Open Public Records Act, the NJ Supreme Court held that such reports should be released under the common law right of access. The Court also set forth factors that public agencies and trial courts should consider when deciding whether to release internal affairs reports. The Court reversed the Appellate Court decision and ordered the trial court to release the records, with appropriate redactions.
CJ Griffin, the Hackensack attorney who argued to release the records, called it a landmark ruling that will have far-reaching effects on which documents reach the public’s eyes.
"It's a sea change in New Jersey," said Griffin, who has also represented The Record and NorthJersey.com in public records cases. "For the first time, we'll be able to access some internal affairs reports and have public oversight over police misconduct investigations."
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