CUSTODIAN CLARIFICATION REQUEST TO OPRA REQUEST 469-2020

October 6, 2020

You have submitted an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request and indicated
that your preferred delivery method is email.

Your request: Please send any correspondence, complaints, internal memo,
records in reference to complaints made against Joe O’Donahue a.k.a Tokyo
Joe.

At this time, your request is overly broad and unclear and I am therefore
requesting clarification. Please identify with reasonable clarity the
documents that you are seeking. Your request is overly broad, unclear and
fails to specify the documents you are seeking with particularity and
would require the custodian to research which documents are responsive.
Currently, your request is for a class of various documents rather than a
request for a specific identifiable government record and OPRA does not
require custodians to research files to discern which records may be
responsive to a request. The request you have submitted fails to identify
with reasonable clarity the specific government records sought, as is
required by Bent v. Stafford Police Department, 381 N.J. Super. 30, 37
(App. Div. 2005). The New Jersey Superior Court has held that “OPRA … is
not intended as a research tool litigants may use to force government
officials to identify and siphon useful information. Rather, OPRA simply
operates to make identifiable government records ‘readily accessible for
inspection, copying, or examination.’ N.J.S.A. §47:1A-1.” MAG
Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J.
Super. 534,546 (App. Div. 2005). In short, OPRA does not countenance
open-ended searches of an agency’s files.” (Emphasis added.) Id. at 549.
Further, in Bent, the Appellate Division held that a proper request under
OPRA must identify with reasonable clarity those documents that are
desired, and a party cannot satisfy this requirement by simply requesting
all of an agency’s documents.”

Elcavage v. West Milford Twp. (Passaic), GRC Complaint No. 2009-07 (April
2010): The Council held that “an OPRA request for an e-mail or e-mails
shall therefore focus upon the following four (4) characteristics:

· Content and/or subject

· Specific date or range of dates

· Sender

· Recipient

In accord with MAG, supra, and its progeny, in order to specifically
identify an e-mail, OPRA requests must contain: (1) the content and/or
subject of the e-mail, (2) the specific date or range of dates during
which the e-mail was transmitted or the e-mails were transmitted, and (3)
a valid e-mail request must identify the sender and/or the recipient
thereof.” Id. at 5.

Please identify with reasonable clarity the documents that you are seeking
on or before October 13,2020.

Sincerely,

Rachel K. Goloff, Esq.

Assistant County Counsel

Atlantic County Department of Law

1333 Atlantic Avenue, 8th Floor

Atlantic City, NJ 08401

P: 609-345-6700 Ext. 2464

F: 609-343-2373

CUSTODIAN RESPONSE TO OPRA REQUEST 469-2020

October 14, 2020

You have submitted an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request and indicated
that your preferred delivery method is email.

Your request: Please send any correspondence, complaints, internal memo,
records in reference to complaints made against Joe O’Donahue a.k.a Tokyo
Joe.

Please be advised that your request is being denied as overly broad and
for failure to provide clarification.  We were unable to process your
request because you failed to provide the clarification that was requested
on October 6, 2020.  As explained in the October 6, 2020 email, your
request is broad, unclear and fails to specify the documents you are
seeking with particularity and would require the custodian to research
which documents are responsive. Your request fails to identify with
reasonable clarity the specific government records sought, as is required
by Bent v. Stafford Police Department, 381 N.J.Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 
2005). The New Jersey Superior Court has held that “OPRA … is not intended
as a research tool litigants may use to force government officials to
identify and siphon useful information.  Rather, OPRA simply operates to
make identifiable government records ‘readily accessible for inspection,
copying, or examination.’  N.J.S.A. § 47:1A-1.” MAG Entertainment, LLC v.
Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 546 (App.
Div. 2005).  In short, OPRA does not countenance open-ended searches of an
agency’s files.”  (Emphasis added.)  Id. at 549.  Further, in Bent, the
Appellate Division held that a proper request under OPRA must identify
with reasonable clarity those documents that are desired, and a party
cannot satisfy this requirement by simply requesting all of an agency’s
documents.”

Sincerely,

Rachel K. Goloff, Esq.

Assistant County Counsel

Atlantic County Department of Law

1333 Atlantic Avenue, 8th Floor

Atlantic City, NJ 08401

P: 609-345-6700 Ext. 2464

F: 609-343-2373