There are going to be some important developments in OPRA law in 2021, as the Supreme Court is currently considering three cases involving OPRA issues.
-Bozzi v. Jersey City
The specific question in this case–whether OPRA requires disclosure of the home addresses of individuals who applied for a pet license–is significant because it’s one that frequently confronts municipalities. But the case also presents broader issues of far-reaching impact: do people have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their home address information that’s in the possession of the government? If so, does OPRA’s privacy exemption protect home addresses and similar information?
This case involves an issue that has never been dealt with by the courts, but is of critical importance to many OPRA custodians: when an agency has the ability to access another agency’s database, is it required to answer OPRA requests for information contained in the database?
–In re AG Law Enforcement Directive
This appeal concerns the validity of the Attorney General’s July 2020 Law Enforcement Directive that requires, for the first time, the public disclosure of the names of police officers who have committed serious disciplinary violations. The Court will need to consider the tension between this requirement and OPRA’s personnel exemption, which has always been held to preclude the release of the names of disciplined public employees.