CJ Griffin to Represent TAPInto Newark in OPRA Case

CJ Griffin, Partner and Director of the Justice Gary S. Stein Public Interest Center at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden P.C., was recently quoted in a TAPInto Newark article “TAPInto Newark Files Suit Against District For Withholding Public Info”. The article discusses the city of Newark’s Board of Education refusing to disclose the full taxpayer cost of the State Street School building, and the lawsuit that TAPInto Newark, represented by CJ Griffin, has filed against them.

TAPinto Newark filed an appeal of an Open Public Records Act request response that heavily redacted information relating to the district's reacquisition of the school, which was no longer used and sold to the real estate development firm Hanini Group in 2019.

“The public has a right to know the full terms of the agreements that public agencies enter into with third parties, so people can determine whether those terms are reasonable and express their support or objections accordingly,” Griffin said.

“The public deserves to see the terms that partially resolve these lawsuits, which have already cost the taxpayers more than a million dollars. As a resident and taxpayer of Newark, I want to know what Newark has agreed to and what it is getting in return,” said Griffin.

A settlement agreement obtained by TAPinto Newark following a series of requests under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act was ultimately provided, but is heavily redacted.

To read the full article, click here.