In November 2015, the Supreme Court granted review in Gilleran v. Bloomfield Tp., to determine whether video recordings from a security camera mounted on a public building are exempt under OPRA. The Court has not yet heard oral argument in the case, so it’s likely that its opinion will not be issued until late 2016 or early 2017.

Meanwhile, OPRA requestors continue to seek disclosure of building security camera footage, and file challenges to the denial of access to these videos. In a recent decision, Jones v. Teaneck (interim decision April 28, 2016), the GRC  said that the custodian must prove, at a hearing before an ALJ, that the security camera recording in question there is exempt.

Suprisingly, the GRC did not mention the Gilleran case in this decision. This is particularly troubling because it’s possible that the Supreme Court may hold, in Gilleran, that a public body is not obligated to present specific evidence in support of maintaining the confidentiality of this record in each case. The Court could determine that there is always a strong security interest in the confidentiality of security camera footage, and rule that OPRA’s security exemption bars access to these recordings in all cases.

The GRC should have held the Jones case pending issuance of the Gilleran opinion, rather than requiring the parties to engage in litigation that may be rendered unnecessary by the Supreme Court’s decision.