Good Afternoon Mr. Hollywood,

The Township of South Orange Village (“SOV”) received your Open Public
Records Act (OPRA) request on February 18, 2020 , and a response is due
February 28, 2020. .

Your OPRA request sought access to the following:

Any police reports associated with the altercation/assault/theft/robbery and
any other offenses that may have occurred at the Our Lady of Sorrows
Gymnasium on 2/17/20 during a basketball event.

Your request for records pursuant to the Open Public Records Act is denied
as it seeks records that are exempt from disclosure pursuant to N.J.S.A.
47:1A-1.1. A government record shall not include the following information
which is deemed to be confidential for the purposes of [OPRA] as amended and
supplemented: …. criminal investigatory records.” N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1. A
Record of a criminal investigatory nature, as defined by OPRA, is “a record
which is not required by law to be made, maintained or kept on file that is
held by a law enforcement agency which pertains to any criminal
investigation or related civil enforcement proceeding.” Janeczko v. New
Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, GRC Complaint Nos. 2002-79 and
2002-80. “Criminal investigatory records include records involving all
manner of crimes, resolved or unresolved, and include information that is
part and parcel of an investigation, confirmed and unconfirmed.” Id. The
New Jersey Supreme Court recently concluded that “detailed investigative
reports and witness statements about the incident. . . fall within the
criminal investigatory records exception.” N. Jersey Media Grp., Inc. v.
Twp. of Lyndhurst, 229 N.J. 541, 569 (2017).

To gain access to under the common law right to access, “the requestor must
make a greater showing than OPRA requires: (1) the person seeking access
must establish an interest in the subject matter of the material; and (2)
the citizen's right to access must be balanced against the State's interest
in preventing disclosure." Id. at 578-79 (internal citations and quotations
omitted). The Supreme Court in NJMG went on to find “the Attorney General's
interest in the integrity of investigations is strongest when it comes to
the disclosure of investigative reports, witness statements, and other
comparably detailed documents.” Id. at 580. As the requestor has not
established an “interest in the subject matter of the material” and based
upon the analysis as provided in NJMG, this request is denied under the
common law right to access.

If your request for access to a government record has been denied or
unfilled within the seven (7) business days required by law, you have a
right to challenge the decision by the Township of South Orange Village to
deny access. At your option, you may either institute a proceeding in the
Superior Court of New Jersey or file a complaint with the Government Records
Council (GRC) by completing the Denial of Access Complaint Form. You may
contact the GRC by toll-free telephone at 866-850-0511, by mail at P.O. Box
819, Trenton, NJ, 08625, by e-mail at [email address], or at their web
site at www.state.nj.us/grc. The GRC can also answer other questions about
the law. All questions regarding complaints filed in Superior Court should
be directed to the Court Clerk in your County.

Have a Great Day!
“Take a leap of faith and begin this wondrous new year by believing“
- Sarah Ban Breathnach

Joycelyn E. White, CMR
Township of South Orange Village
973-378-7715 x7725

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