We close Sunshine Week by featuring Jennifer A. Borg, Esq.
Ms. Borg is General Counsel and Vice President of North Jersey Media Group, publisher of The Record. She is a recognized authority in First Amendment and open governance matters, particularly as they affect newspapers, and has recently served as Chair of the New Jersey Press Association. She also has litigated numerous OPRA lawsuits with successful results. Ms. Borg was featured in the ABA Journal (July 2014) for her expertise in OPRA and public records access issues. Pashman Stein regularly serves as co-counsel with North ...
Often, public agencies deny requests for records relating to misconduct or crime and claim that the records are part of an “investigation in progress” and therefore not subject to OPRA. It is true that OPRA does provide an exemption for ongoing investigations, but it is important to know how this exemption is applied.
First, OPRA specifically states that ongoing investigation does not apply to records that were “open for public inspection, examination, or copying before the investigation commenced.” N.J.S.A. 47:1A-3a. This means that a video recording that recorded a ...
