In March, the Supreme Court issued two highly consequential OPRA opinions. These cases are particularly significant because, in both matters, the Court rejected arguments that the applicable OPRA exemptions should be cast aside. Instead, the Court ensured the continuing viability of the exemptions for personnel records and police internal affairs records.

In Libertarians for Transparent Govt. v. Cumberland County, the requestor, the ACLU, and other organizations asked the Court to disregard OPRA’s personnel exemption and hold that the public is entitled to disclosure of all settlements of internal disciplinary actions. The Court declined this invitation to weaken the personnel exemption. Instead, it reiterated the longstanding requirement of OPRA that public employee personnel records–which include records of disciplinary settlements–are strictly confidential. A limited exception to this rule is that OPRA expressly designates certain personnel information as public, including the reason for the employee’s separation from employment.

In Rivera v. Union County Prosecutor, the Court similarly rejected the requestor’s main argument–that OPRA does not exempt police internal affairs records from disclosure. The Court unambiguously held that these records are exempt under OPRA, thereby precluding automatic public access to them. The Court said such records are only potentially disclosable through a common law records request.

Thus, these cases are important in two ways: they provide guidance on crucial OPRA issues, and they conclusively reject efforts to undermine OPRA’s confidentiality guarantees.