New Jersey Case – Working Brief

LEGAL ARGUMENT POINT I

A CITIZENSHIP REQUIREMENT FOR ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS IS INCONSISTENT WITH THE MODERN INFORMATION ECONOMY

These cases raise the question of whether the rights granted by the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1, et seq. (“OPRA”) extend to non-citizens of New Jersey. The question comes before the Court uniquely postured, having been briefed in three separate matters: Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights v. Atlantic City Board of Education, A-002704-15 (hereafter “Lawyers Committee”), Scheeler v. City of Cape May, et al., A-002716-15 (hereafter “Cape May”), and Scheeler v. Atlantic County Municipal Joint Insurance Fund, et al., A002092-15 (hereafter “ACJMF”). The Plaintiffs argue that the extensive use of the term “any person” throughout OPRA’s “operational” provisions (in contrast to the former Right-toKnow-Law, which used “citizen”), the fact that OPRA provides for anonymous records requests, as well as numerous other principles of statutory construction, require reading OPRA to extend to non-citizens. Amicus agrees with the Plaintiffs and urge this Court to hold that any “person” may utilize OPRA to access public records.