CJ Griffin Wins Appeal at the NJ Supreme Court in Body-Cam Case
CJ Griffin, partner and director of the Justice Gary S. Stein Public Interest Center at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden P.C., recently secured a victory from the New Jersey Supreme Court on behalf of two parents who sought body-worn camera footage of a complaint they made to police.
Griffin sued Chatham Township after multiple attempts to get a copy of the body-camera footage failed. Both the Morris County Superior Court and the Appellate Division sided with the Township, concluding that the parents were not entitled to the video of their own report to police. However, the Supreme Court unanimously disagreed with the lower court rulings and ordered the Township to disclose the video to Griffin’s clients immediately pursuant to the Open Public Records Act.
“This is a common sense decision by the Court and really demonstrates the types of absurd hurdles agencies put up to keep people from getting public records,” CJ Griffin told NJ.com in a statement. “There is no legal basis to keep a victim from getting a copy of their own complaint to police, yet it took a three-year legal battle for my clients to obtain it.”
This decision follows a long line of police records cases that Griffin has litigated in the New Jersey Supreme Court, with prior victories resulting in access to police internal affairs reports, dash camera videos, and use of force records.
“My clients felt like this denial of access was an injustice and they are thrilled that the Supreme Court has finally ruled in their favor all these years later,” said Griffin in a statement to the New Jersey Law Journal. “We know the decision will help others too. Just last week I was contacted by grieving parents. Their child experienced a medical emergency and sadly passed away. The police body cams recorded the child saying ‘I love you’ to the parents, and having a copy of it would bring the parents great comfort. But the police station won’t give it to them. I’m hopeful today’s decision will cause the police to reverse course and do the right thing.”
The matter has received extensive media attention.
Links to media coverage:
- January 21, 2025, New Jersey Monitor, “N.J. Supreme Court Expands Access to Police Body Camera Footage.” To read the article, click here.
- January 21, 2025, Bloomberg Litigation, “Bodycam Records Rules Relaxed by New Jersey Supreme Court.” To read the article, click here.
- January 22, 2025, New Jersey Law Journal, “‘The Decision Will Help Others’: NJ Supreme Court Reverses Appellate Div. in OPRA Claim Over Body-Worn Camera Footage.” To read the article, click here.
- January 22, 2025, NJ.com, “Parents Can See Police Body Cam Video of Child Abuse Complaint, N.J. Supreme Court Rules.” To read the article, click here.
