CJ Griffin Quoted in NJSpotlight.com Article on Status of Public's Access to Police Officers' Disciplinary History

CJ Griffin, director of the Justice Gary S. Stein Interest Center at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden P.C., was quoted in the NJSpotlight.com article, “Court challenges crack open police records.” The article discusses the status of the public’s access to information about police officers’ disciplinary history, noting the New Jersey Supreme Court “cracked that door open.” In a recent decision, the Court upheld the Law Enforcement Directives issued by New Jersey State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, which require disclosure of the names of law enforcement officers who receive major discipline. The article further discussed how the Directives represented a change in policy and that in case in which our client sought the identity of disciplined state trooper pursuant to the Open Public Records Act, the Attorney General’s filing opposed disclosing the name of the trooper (Libertarians for Transparent Gov't v. New Jersey State Police, Supreme Court Docket No. 083079).

Just nine days after that filing, George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police. That ignited national public protests. Grewal immediately reversed course.

“After George Floyd was murdered, the AG quickly gave us the name, paid us to dismiss the case and released the directives (June 9) that were upheld by the Supreme Court,” said CJ Griffin, a prominent New Jersey First Amendment attorney, who represented the plaintiffs in the case, which was cited by Rabner in justifying the court decision.

To view the full article, click here.

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