Rivera v. Fort Lee

Are police department standard operating procedures available under OPRA and the common law right of access to public information?

The ACLU-NJ participated as amicus in a lawsuit about the availability of police standard operating procedures (SOPs). In response to a request from an activist for SOPs, Ft. Lee provided only heavily redacted versions. The town claimed that security needs justified the redactions. The ACLU-NJ contended that courts should not simply accept claims of security concerns without first reviewing the documents to determine whether the professed concerns were sufficient to justify withholding the documents. The ACLU-NJ also stressed that, under the common law, courts must consider the great public interest in accessing police practices to hold their police departments accountable.