Marty "Gym Balls" Flynn OPRA requests "Oprah Jersey et al
Dear Hamilton Township (Mercer),
This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form. Please acknowledge receipt of this message.
Records requested:
All OPRA requests filed by Martin "Marty Gym Balls" Flynn and all other names that he used to secretly request info on behalf of Kelly Yaede:
OPRAH Jersey
Yours faithfully,
opra mulrine
October 21, 2019
opra mulrine
Via email only: OPRAmachine
Re: October 10, 2019 OPRA request from opra mulrine (anonymous) (#19-1755)
Dear Anonymous:
I received the above-referenced request (the “Request”) under the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. (“OPRA”) and the common-law right of access on October 10, 2019. In the Request, you seek:
All OPRA requests filed by Martin “Marty Gym Balls” Flynn and all other names that he used to secretly request info on behalf of Kelly Yaede.
An OPRA request must identify the documents sought with specificity and particularity. Burke v. Brandes, 429 N.J. Super. 169, 175 (App. Div. 2012). A general request for documents is invalid under OPRA if such documents are not “reasonably described with such identifying information” sufficient to identify specific government records. See id. at 176-77. Moreover, “OPRA does not require record custodians to conduct research among its records for a requestor and correlate data from various government records in the custodian’s possession.” MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Div. of ABC, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 546-47 (App. Div. 2005).
OPRA is not a research tool, and it cannot be used “to force government officials to identify and siphon useful information.” See id. at 546. Rather, OPRA simply operates “to make identifiable government records “readily accessible for inspection, copying, or examination.” Ibid. (citing N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1). Furthermore, OPRA does not “authorize a party to make a blanket request for every document a public agency has on file.” Bent v. Twp. of Stafford Police Dep't, Custodian of Records, 381 N.J. Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 2005).
There are no records responsive to the first part of the Request. The Clerk’s Office cannot locate any OPRA requests filed by “Martin ‘Marty Gym Balls’ Flynn” or “Martin Flynn.” See, e.g., N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1; N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g).
I must deny the second part of the Request, since you have failed to identify specific documents and since attempted compliance with the second part of the Request would require me to perform research, which exceeds the scope of my duties under OPRA. See, e.g., MAG, supra, at 546-47; N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1.