Judge Orders City of Newark to Produce Log of Records Related to Facebook Donation

January 27, 2012

Judge rejects city’s motion to dismiss parents’ group’s lawsuit

NEWARK – A Superior Court judge today ordered a lawsuit to proceed against the City of Newark (151k PDF) over documents related to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million donation for the city’s schools, and ordered the city to produce a list of the documents in its possession. Judge Rachel N. Davidson denied a motion by the city to dismiss the complaint, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (2.1mb PDF) (ACLU-NJ) on behalf of the Secondary Parent Council (SPC), a group of Newark parents and grandparents seeking more transparency about the Zuckerberg donation.

“Newark’s arguments to skirt New Jersey’s public disclosure laws (1.5mb PDF) simply haven’t added up from the start – that’s just one reason why this lawsuit is going forward today,” said Frank Corrado, an attorney with Barry, Corrado, Grassi & Gibson as well as the president of the ACLU-NJ Board of Trustees, who represents SPC on the ACLU-NJ's behalf. “When Mayor Booker accepted this generous offer to help transform Newark’s schools, he emphasized the role the public would play in the process. Instead they have been denied basic requests for public documents.”

The city has argued it does not have any documents, but that even if it did, they would be shielded by mayoral executive privilege, which does not exist in New Jersey. During a hearing on the motion to dismiss the case today, Judge Davidson said she found it hard to believe the city did not possess any records related to the September 2010 donation.

“It’s a little difficult to believe that after Mr. Zuckerberg pledged $100 million to the Newark Schools that the City of Newark would not have a document,” said Judge Davidson.

Michael Witt, the attorney representing the city, acknowledged that the city has some documents, which he believed would comprise roughly 50 pages of emails. The judge ordered the city to provide a log with a description of those emails by Feb. 10, 2011.

The judge’s ruling today brings Newark parents one step closer to a better understanding of the details of the donation, which was intended to transform Newark schools. Despite numerous requests for more detailed records since the announcement of the gift in September 2010, the City of Newark has released only general information about the use and sources of the funding rather than the complete body of information the public is entitled to under law.

“As parents and grandparents, we simply want to fully understand the impact of this gift on our children and get a better grasp on this aspect of their education,” said Laura Baker of the Secondary Parent Council. “Refusing to share details the public deserves to know sends a message that outside funders have more insight into the Newark Public Schools than the community members who have a stake in the process.”

The case is captioned Secondary Parent Council v. Newark.

Related Content

• More Obstacles Encountered in Quest for Transparency about Facebook Donation
• Community Groups, ACLU-NJ Seek Public Records About Facebook Donation
• Newark Mayor Cory Booker Speaks About the Facebook Money

Court Documents

• OPRA Request (305k PDF)
• Complaint (440k PDF)
• OPRA Denial (324k PDF)
• Newark's Response (1.6mb PDF)
• Order Dismissing Complaint (151k PDF)
• Motion in Opposition to Dismiss (2.0mb PDF)
• Motion to Dismiss (1.4mb PDF)

Gov. Christie Earns Mixed Marks on Civil Liberties During His First Two Years

January 24, 2012

ACLU-NJ examines Christie’s record on respecting rights

NEWARK – The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) released a midterm report card for Gov. Chris Christie today (182k PDF), issuing mostly low marks for his administration’s handling of critical civil liberties issues such as reproductive freedom and free speech.

The report card examines Christie’s record on an array of civil liberties issues during his first two years in office. The ACLU-NJ issued a similar report card for Newark Mayor Cory Booker (229k PDF) in 2009 during his first term in office.

“Christie has two years to turn a mediocre civil liberties record into a testament to individual rights,” said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Deborah Jacobs. “The people of New Jersey expect a leader who will stand up for their freedoms, not one who will let them know that despite his unfair policies, his heart is in the right place. It’s time for Gov. Christie’s good intentions to turn into policies that strengthen our rights and improve our lives.”

The ACLU-NJ issued the following grades:

• B in Freedom of Religion. Gov. Christie made headlines several times in his first term for defending the religious freedom of Muslims and warning against extremists trying to promote discrimination against Islam.


• F in Freedom of Speech. When provided the opportunity to speak up for our nation’s most fundamental value, the Governor stood idly by, letting the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs trample the rights of Occupy Trenton, and going so far as to endorse the termination of a NJ Transit employee fired for exercising his right to free expression.


• B- in LGBT Rights. Although the Governor has spoken out against bullying and supported some interests of the LGBT community, he has turned his back on marriage equality for same-sex couples.


• D in Open Government. Although the Governor signed a bill that lowers the cost of copies in New Jersey, his administration has put itself on the wrong side of open government disputes numerous times, allowing agencies to hide public documents and forcing citizens to go to court to get them.


• C in Police Practices. Improvements made by the Office of Attorney General (OAG) to its statewide police Internal Affairs policies were a step forward, but the OAG has failed to address other important issues, such as developing a statewide policy on the use of confidential informants.


• C in Privacy Rights. The governor conditionally vetoed a bill that sought to open adoption records, taking into account the privacy rights of birth parents. At the same time, he signed into a law a bill that allows police to collect DNA of people once they have been arrested in violation of privacy and due process rights.


• F in Reproductive Rights. Not only did the governor cut $7.5 million from the budget for family planning centers, but he also withdrew an application for a federal program that would have covered family planning expenses for some of New Jersey’s most vulnerable women and children.


• D in Separation of Powers. The Governor refused to reappoint New Jersey Supreme Court Justice John J. Wallace, Jr., calling into question the tradition of evaluating judges based on merits, and personally attacked a Superior Court judge because he disagreed with the outcome of her ruling. Gov. Christie’s actions threaten to undermine the judiciary’s independence and credibility.

One Year After Initial Request, Department of Education Agrees to Release Records

November 17, 2011

NEWARK - In response to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU-NJ, the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE) has released public records containing the names of outside persons brought in by the DOE to review applications from schools seeking charters from the Commissioner of Education. The documents were released nearly one year after the initial request was filed by the Education Law Center (ELC).

The ACLU-NJ filed suit in March 4, 2011 on behalf of ELC, which has advocated for more transparency and accountability in the charter school review and approval process.

According to the documents that were released (1.4mb PDF), some of the reviewers are advocates for expanding charter schools and private school vouchers in New Jersey. Others are, or have been, affiliated with organizations that promote and support charter schools. ELC is analyzing the list further to determine whether the individuals brought in are qualified to make decisions about charter school applicants on behalf of the state.

"Even a cursory look at the list of charter reviewers raises a red flag about the ability and qualifications of these persons to give DOE objective input on whether an applicant meets the legal and education standards to open a charter in New Jersey," said ELC Executive Director David Sciarra.

ELC filed a public records request for the information on November 24, 2010. In addition to seeking the names, ELC also asked for training materials that were used to train reviewers, including a Power Point presentation. The DOE responded to the request on December 22, 2010 and refused to release the materials. Although it released emails between DOE employees and volunteers, the department redacted the identities and email addresses of the DOE volunteers. The state later agreed to release the requested training materials after the lawsuit was filed.

The lawsuit charged that the state violated the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) by refusing to release the names of outsiders who play a role in determining which schools receive a charter and public funding.

"Charter schools have a mission to serve the public and in turn the public has a right to know who is involved in making these decisions," said ACLU-NJ Open Governance Attorney Bobby Conner. "Releasing the list of outside reviewers sheds more light on how decisions are being made. It's time now for the DOE to take the next step and release the actual reviews, along with the reasons for the Commissioner's final decision to approve or deny a charter application."

Related Content

• Education law Center v. NJDOE
• Email Released November 17, 2011 (1.4mb PDF)

New Guides Help NJ Citizens Gain Access to Government

November 02, 2011

ACLU-NJ pamphlets answer key questions about NJ’s sunshine and right-to-know laws

NEWARK - Although New Jersey's Sunshine Law and Open Public Meetings Act are powerful tools to gain access to government officials, interpreting the laws can sometimes present a challenge. The ACLU-NJ has two new resources to change that, one demystifying the Sunshine Law (382k PDF) and another shedding light on the Open Public Records Act (369k PDF).

• The ACLU-NJ's guide to New Jersey's Sunshine Law (382k PDF) explains the rules all public bodies must follow regarding meetings, including whether they have to keep minutes (they do), whether they can be fined for violating the law (they can), whether it's legal for members of the public to record meetings (it is), and times when members of the public may speak (during mandatory public-comment periods).
• Additionally, the guide to New Jersey's Open Public Records Act (369k PDF) teaches the ins and outs of accessing government documents: how to file a request at any level of government in New Jersey, what copies of records will cost (5 cents for letter-size paper, 7 cents for legal) and what to do if a request is denied (there are several options).

"The law supports the rights of New Jersey citizens to get the information they need to engage in community issues and concerns, but you can only fight for your rights if you know what they are," said ACLU-NJ Open Governance Attorney Bobby Conner. "Having an easy-to-use guide to these rights should embolden people to act if government agencies unlawfully hide information or forbid access to meetings."

The pamphlet is available on the ACLU-NJ's website, www.aclu-nj.org/opengov. Members of the public can also request a pamphlet by emailing info@aclu-nj.org.

Citizens can use the Sunshine Law and Open Public Records Act to uncover a wide range of information, from official salaries and crime statistics to school board meeting minutes and topics coming before the city council. The ACLU-NJ's Open Governance Project has used the Sunshine Law and Open Public Records Act to uncover whether New Jersey has tracked cell phones; to find out which school districts violated the state's rules for enrolling immigrant students; to learn whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie met with the head of Fox News; and to secure the rights of citizens to access and record public meetings.

"Unless we know what our government officials are doing, there's no way to hold our elected officials accountable," said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Deborah Jacobs. "We hope these pamphlets will serve as a how-to guide for everyone in New Jersey to play a direct part in defending democracy."

The longstanding tension in New Jersey between concerned citizens and powerful local authorities was just one factor that gave rise to the ACLU-NJ's Open Governance Project, founded in 2009 with a generous grant from Rutgers School of Law's Pratt Bequest to help New Jerseyans gain access to their government. The ACLU-NJ saw firsthand the severity of government agencies' problems with transparency. While trying to investigate civil liberties violations, the ACLU-NJ regularly encounters roadblocks to information based on misinterpretations of open records laws, stalling civil liberties work, and weakening checks on governmental power.

The ACLU-NJ is currently working with legislators to modernize the Sunshine Law, which has hardly been touched since its passage in 1974, on the heels of Watergate, and the Open Public Records Act, which was last revised in 2002. Advances in technology have changed the day-to-day processes of government drastically, and the laws require clarification to guarantee open government in an age when officials can use electronic communications to shield records and hold secret meetings.

For more information on the ACLU-NJ's Open Governance Project and its work to promote transparency, visit http://www.aclu-nj.org/theissues/opengovernment/opengovernanceproject/

More Obstacles Encountered in Quest for Transparency about Facebook Donation

October 25, 2011

Top officials are using personal email to discuss Facebook and City of Newark refuses to release records

NEWARK - The Secondary Parent Council (SPC) and other organizations seeking information about the $100 million pledge by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg continue to encounter roadblocks by the City of Newark and other public officials who are using personal email accounts to discuss the donation.

"The bottom line is that folks on the ground in Newark want basic information about the terms of the gift, such as whether it included any preconditions" said Deborah Jacobs, American Civil Liberties of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) executive director. "But between the use of personal email accounts and unjust denials of open records requests, they've learned practically nothing."

Recent developments include:

• The City of Newark has asked the court to dismiss an open records lawsuit filed by the ACLU-NJ on behalf of the SPC, a Newark group of parents and grandparents that requested public records about the Facebook donation. The City claimed in its response (1.7mb PDF) that the records are protected by mayoral executive privilege (something allowed only to the Governor in New Jersey), that Newark Mayor Cory Booker was not acting in official capacity, that the communications were exempt because they were deliberative and that the mayor has a general need for privacy in executing his functions.
• The City's response came days after the ACLU-NJ discovered that top officials, including Mayor Booker and Department of Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf have used their personal email accounts to discuss the Facebook pledge. The ACLU-NJ made the discovery after reviewing documents released in response to an open records request made by one of its clients, the Education Law Center (ELC).

In July, the ELC filed an open records request (11k PDF) with the state Department of Education (DOE) seeking any emails, documents or other correspondence between the agency and the Foundation for Newark's Future, a nonprofit established to raise matching funds and administer the money. The DOE turned over documents and email, (1.6mb PDF) which included email exchanges between Cerf and Booker on their personal accounts.

The ACLU-NJ emailed a letter to the DOE (395k PDF) asking that it search the personal email accounts of Cerf and Assistant Commissioner Andrew Smarick for public records. By law, public business conducted on a personal email account is a public record. Public officials should not be allowed to conduct business on private email accounts because it lessens accountability when the email is not on the government agency's computer system.

ELC is one of several organizations that have sought transparency and records about the Facebook money. The NAACP and SPC have also filed open records requests with the City of Newark, the Newark Public Schools and the DOE. Although the DOE recently provided some records, not one of the agencies has produced any written agreement or contract memorializing the terms of the gift.

Laura Baker, a representative of the SPC, said she is dismayed by the City of Newark's lack of response.

"I'm extremely disappointed that the city has once again refused to turn over records," said Baker. "As parents and grandparents, we just wanted to get a better idea about how our leaders are making decisions that affect our children."

Related Content

• Community Groups, ACLU-NJ Seek Public Records About Facebook Donation
• Newark Mayor Cory Booker Speaks About the Facebook Money
• Secondary Parent Council v. Newark
• Responses from the City of Newark and the State to OPRA requests
• Timeline of Facebook donation and quest for records

Parents' Group Sues for Details of Facebook Donation to Newark Schools

August 23, 2011

Secondary Parent Council turns to court in response to Newark’s denial of request for public records about $100 million Zuckerberg donation

NEWARK, N.J. — The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey's Open Governance Project (ACLU-NJ) and the Newark-based Secondary Parent Council (SPC) filed suit today against the City of Newark for refusing to release records concerning the $100 million gift that Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg pledged last September to transform the city's public school system.

"As parents, as taxpayers and as citizens, we have a need and right to know how the money pledged to Newark's public schools will ultimately serve Newark's public school students," said Laura Baker, who filed the open records request as a representative of the SPC and has a granddaughter in Newark public schools.

On April 1, SPC, an organization made up of parents and grandparents of Newark public school students, filed a request under the state's Open Public Records Act (OPRA) to review correspondence between Zuckerberg, Newark employees, including Mayor Cory Booker, and the New Jersey state government, among other affiliated foundations and corporations related to the Zuckerberg gift. The community-based organization was interested in learning more details about how the highly-publicized $100 million gift, announced on the Oprah Winfrey Show on Sept. 24, 2010, would be spent. After the money was pledged, Gov. Chris Christie instructed Mayor Booker to develop and implement a comprehensive plan for Newark schools.

"When Mayor Booker accepted this donation, he stressed the importance of getting input from the community members it affected most. If this is truly an investment in our city's future, we need to see the transparency we've been promised," said Baker.

After requesting several extensions in order to locate the responsive documents, Newark denied the request on July 19, 2011. In its rejection, the city claimed, among other things, that the communications between Mayor Booker and Zuckerberg "were not made in the court of the mayor's official duties." The letter also stated, to the extent Mayor Booker was exercising his official duties, the documents were subject to executive and deliberative privileges.

The ACLU-NJ's lawsuit states the city has failed to provide a lawful basis for denying access to the records. Newark also failed to produce a list of the responsive documents that the public was not entitled to see, as required by OPRA.

"By invoking executive privilege, the City of Newark has waded into unchartered territory in an attempt to make sure these records never see the light of day," said Frank Corrado, an attorney with Barry, Corrado, Grassi & Gibson as well as the president of the ACLU-NJ Board of Trustees, who represents SPC on the ACLU-NJ's behalf. "Executive privilege is the province of the Governor; it has never been accepted at the mayoral level in New Jersey."

Executive privilege protects the Governor from disclosing records that contain advice to him on matters related to his executive functions as Governor of New Jersey; it does not apply to other elected officials in New Jersey. The assertion that Booker was not acting in his official capacity as Mayor is obviously inaccurate, considering that the money is dedicated to the Newark Public Schools and its distribution is coordinated through the Governor and other state offices.

The complaint, captioned Secondary Parent Council v. City of Newark was filed in Superior Court in Essex County.

The ACLU-NJ's Open Governance Project, founded in 2009 through a grant from the Pratt Bequest Fund of Rutgers School of Law-Newark, is dedicated to ensuring that government agencies uphold and enforce OPRA and New Jersey's Sunshine law.

Related Content

• OPRA Request (306k PDF)
• OPRA Request Denial (295k PDF)
• Secondary Parent Council v. Newark Complaint (411k PDF)

ACLU Seeks Details on Government Phone Tracking in Massive Nationwide Information Request

August 03, 2011

Campaign is One of the Largest Coordinated Information Act Requests in American History

NEW YORK — In a massive coordinated information-seeking campaign, 34 American Civil Liberties Union affiliates across the nation today, including New Jersey are sending requests to 375 local law enforcement agencies large and small demanding to know when, why and how they are using cell phone location data to track Americans. The campaign is one of the largest coordinated information act requests in American history. The requests, being filed under the states' freedom of information laws, are an effort to strip away the secrecy that has surrounded law enforcement use of cell phone tracking capabilities.

"The ability to access cell phone location data is an incredibly powerful tool and its use is shrouded in secrecy. The public has a right to know how and under what circumstances their location information is being accessed by the government," said Catherine Crump, staff attorney for the ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project. "A detailed history of someone's movements is extremely personal and is the kind of information the Constitution protects."

The ACLU-NJ sent open records requests to the 50 largest police departments in the state, including Newark, Jersey City and Camden. The requests asked for policies, procedures and practices followed when obtaining cell phone location records, criteria about when and how cell phone location records are used and any judicial orders or decisions allowing the departments to obtain cell phone location records.

"While New Jersey residents have widely embraced cell phones for the convenience they offer on a daily basis, they have also given the government an unprecedented ability to monitor people's movements by tracking the geographical location of their cell phones," said ACLU-NJ Open Governance Project attorney Bobby Conner. "New Jersey residents have a right to know if their police departments are tracking cell phones and if so, why?"

Law enforcement agencies are being asked for information including:

• whether law enforcement agents demonstrate probable cause and obtain a warrant to access cell phone location data;
• statistics on how frequently law enforcement agencies obtain cell phone location data;
• how much money law enforcement agencies spend tracking cell phones and
• other policies and procedures used for acquiring location data.

Law enforcement's use of cell phone location data has been widespread for years, although it has become increasingly controversial recently. Just last week, the general counsel of the National Security Agency suggested to members of Congress that the NSA might have the authority to collect the location information of American citizens inside the U.S. Also, this spring, researchers revealed that iPhones were collecting and storing location information in unknown files on the phone. Police in Michigan sought information about every cell phone near the site of a planned labor protest.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether police need a warrant to place a GPS tracking device on a person's vehicle. While that case does not involve cell phones, it could influence the rules police have to follow for cell phone tracking.

Congress is considering the Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance Act, a bill supported by the ACLU that would require police to get a warrant to obtain personal location information. The bill would protect both historical and real-time location data, and would also require customers' consent for telecommunications companies to collect location data.

Today's requests are part of the ACLU's Demand Your dotRights Campaign, the organization's campaign to make sure that as technology advances, privacy rights are not left behind.

Requests were filed by the ACLU affiliates in:

More information about the requests is available at: http://www.aclu.org/locationtracking

Gov. Christie releases records after lawsuit

July 25, 2011

ACLU-NJ, Gawker challenged governor’s use of executive privilege

Gov. Chris Christie

Roger Ailes

NEWARK - In response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie's office today released records that it originally shielded citing executive privilege.

The record, a page from his calendar on September 11, 2010, was originally sought after by John Cook, a reporter with Gawker. Cook filed an open records request for email, calendar entries and phone records of Christie's correspondence with Fox News President Roger Ailes, but was denied. Christie's office rejected the request on June 14, 2011 citing executive privilege. Earlier today, it released a calendar entry confirming a private meeting between Christie and Ailes, and claimed that no further records exist.

While today's response from the Governor's office will likely resolve the lawsuit, it raises new questions.

"We're happy to see the matter resolved quickly but remain concerned that the governor's office initially issued a blanket executive privilege claim in response to Gawker's request for records," said Frank Corrado, of Barry, Corrado, Grassi & Gibson, who represents Cook on behalf of the ACLU-NJ. "Is the governor's office actually reviewing records requests from the public, or is it simply using executive privilege as a carte blanche to deny access to all correspondence with his office?"

After Christie's office released the documents, the ACLU-NJ sent a letter to his office expressing its concern about the governor's use of executive privilege, and asking to meet with his administration to address the concerns.

"Governor Christie often highlights his expressed commitment to government transparency government, so we were especially concerned about his use of the executive privilege exception" said Deborah Jacobs, ACLU-NJ executive director. "We need the assurances of his office that the utmost information is released to the public."

Cook sought the records from Christie's office in order to shed light on conversations reported in New York magazine in which Ailes, a Republican political adviser turned Fox media mogul, urged Governor Christie to run for president. The lawsuit was filed after the governor's office rejected his open records request.

Executive privilege protects the Governor from disclosing records that contain advice to him on matters related to his executive functions as Governor of New Jersey. However, while New Jersey's executive privilege exists to protect "the sensitive decisional and consultative" responsibilities of the governor to fulfill his constitutional obligations, it does not apply to records that do not pertain to his constitutional obligations as the chief executive. Members of the press and the public alike need to know that the Governor only uses executive privilege to protect the integrity of his decisions and not to protect any and all correspondence he simply wishes to shield from scrutiny.

The case is captioned Gawker Entertainment v. Jeffrey S. Chiesa .

Related Documents

• Gawker v. Chiesa Complaint (16k PDF)
• Gawker's OPRA Request (435k PDF)
• Governor's Response to OPRA Request (277k PDF)
• ACLU-NJ's Response to Governor's Supplemental Request (90k PDF)

ACLU-NJ sues to challenge Gov. Christie's denial to release Ailes emails to Gawker reporter

July 25, 2011

Governor's Office invokes "executive privilege" in rejecting records request

Gov. Chris Christie

Roger Ailes

NEWARK - The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey has sued New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's office on behalf of Gawker Entertainment and its reporter challenging the Governor's refusal - based on claims of executive privilege — to release correspondence between Fox News President Roger Ailes and Governor Christie.

"New Jersey needs a system in place to separate executive privilege from carte blanche," said Frank Corrado of Barry, Corrado, Grassi & Gibson, who is representing Cook for the ACLU-NJ and is the president of the organization's board. "Executive privilege exists to help a governor carry out constitutional obligations, not to diminish the constitutional right to a free press."

Gawker reporter John Cook filed a request for correspondence between the Governor and Ailes under the state Open Public Records Act (OPRA) on May 25, 2011. Cook sought any correspondence, phone records and calendar entries from Christie's office in order to shed light on conversations reported in New York magazine in which Ailes, a Republican political adviser turned Fox media mogul, urged Governor Christie to run for president. The Governor's office responded to the OPRA request on June 14, 2011, refusing to confirm whether the records existed, but said that if they did, they would be exempt from OPRA under executive privilege.

Executive privilege protects the Governor from disclosing records that contain advice to him on matters related to his executive functions as Governor of New Jersey. However, while New Jersey's executive privilege exists to protect "the sensitive decisional and consultative" responsibilities of the governor to fulfill his constitutional obligations, it does not apply to records that do not pertain to his constitutional obligations as the chief executive. Members of the press and the public alike need to know that the Governor only uses executive privilege to protect the integrity of his decisions and not to protect any and all correspondence he simply wishes to shield from scrutiny. The lawsuit seeks to ensure that Governor Christie has not improperly invoked the privilege.

"The public has a right to know whether the head of America's most-watched cable news channel is advising a sitting governor on State matters," said Gawker reporter Cook. "If the emails on the state system between the Governor and Ailes don't relate to Christie's functions as Governor, then they can't be hidden from the public."

The lawsuit, filed today in Superior Court in Mercer County, argues that the state's blanket assertion of executive privilege, without explanation or description of the documents, was insufficient to sustain the executive privilege claim.

The ACLU-NJ will argue that for executive privilege to be properly invoked the governor must include an index identifying the responsive records (without disclosing compromising details) and explain why executive privilege applies, or the records should be subject to a judge's in camera review.

The case is captioned Gawker Entertainment v. Jeffrey S. Chiesa .

Related Documents

• Gawker v. Chiesa Complaint (16k PDF)
• Gawker's OPRA Request (435k PDF)
• Governor's Response to OPRA Request (277k PDF)

Lawsuit Aims to Make State’s Charter School Review Process Transparent

March 04, 2011

NEWARK — The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) filed a lawsuit against the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE) today, demanding that it disclose the names of volunteers who reviewed applications to create or renew public charter schools and details about the training they receive.

The lawsuit was filed (5mb PDF) in Superior Court in Mercer County on behalf of the Education Law Center (ELC), which filed the initial request for public information in November, 2010. The DOE denied access to training materials and redacted the identities of the DOE volunteers, whom the DOE asked in November to review 50 applications for schools hoping to open in September 2012.

“Charter schools have a reputation for adding elements of private school experience, but if they're not accountable to the public, they're not holding up the public end of the bargain," Education Law Center Executive Director David Sciarra said. “The public has a right to know who is involved in making decisions about public education.”

Although the DOE provided the ELC with information about its employees, it violated the New Jersey Open Public Records Act on a number of counts by illegally withholding the identities of unpaid volunteers, who play a role in determining which schools receive a charter from the DOE and public funding. The DOE enlists volunteer readers to score and evaluate each application for a school charter, which sets forth a plan for operating a semi-autonomous public school.

Although the DOE claims the withheld materials contain “deliberative, consultative, advisory” information, the ACLU-NJ has reason to believe those materials refer only to criteria for decision-making, not the substance of actual decisions, which means by law the public has a right to see it.

“Charter schools have a mission to serve the public, and in turn the public has a right to know what processes guide the decisions to create them,” said ACLU-NJ Open Governance Attorney Bobby Conner. “When people are denied access to their own public schools, it amounts to theft of taxpayer dollars.”

The case, captioned Education Law Center v. New Jersey Department of Education.