CJ Griffin Discusses Open Public Records Act in Interview with NJ Spotlight News
CJ Griffin, Partner and Director of the Justice Gary S. Stein Public Interest Center at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden P.C., was interviewed by NJ Spotlight News regarding four new bills introduced into the state legislature last week that could drastically affect the Open Public Records Act (OPRA). The restrictions on OPRA would limit access to government documents and public contractsand make it very difficult for requestors to challenge the denial of their requests.
“There are so many concerns with it it’s hard to know where to start, but I will say that A5614 in particular really guts OPRA in the sense that OPRA’s fee shift and your right to go to court are the two enforcement mechanisms of OPRA that really mean that agencies need to comply with it,” said Griffin.
Speaking on other parts of the proposed bills, Griffin said “A5616 actually kind of shockingly contains this provision that exempts records that relates to a person’s interactions with public agency with regards to applications for or receipts of contracts. So, are we really going to allow people to communicate secretly with public officials about getting a government contract? That’s an open door for corruption and perhaps a conflict of interest is that so many of our lawmakers have government contracts.”
To watch the full interview, click here.
