Court overturns OPRA decision in Bridgegate case

A state appellate court ruled in favor of North Jersey Media Group – the parent company of The Record and Northjersey.com – on Thursday that state employees could be subject to penalties for violating public records law and must provide more information related to the George Washington Bridge scandal.

The court overruled a lower court decision and ordered Gov. Chris Christie's office to provide sworn statements supported by personal knowledge explaining the records search for information on the 2013 scandal. 

The governor’s office came under fire after the disclosure of his administration’s involvement in the plot to shut down access lanes to the George Washington Bridge as payback against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee in 2013. David Wildstein, Bill Baroni’s second-in-command at the Port Authority, testified that it was his idea to use the bridge as leverage against the mayor, Mark Sokolich, who had declined to endorse Christie. Baroni is the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

In December 2013, North Jersey Media Group filed an Open Public Records Act request seeking correspondence between Baroni or Wildstein and Christie and staff members related to the lane closures, according to Thursday’s appellate court decision. 

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The governor’s office responded that it did not have any such records. Another source provided North Jersey Media Group with an email from Wildstein to Kelly and Drewniak about lane closures that the media company claimed should have been covered in the OPRA request.

In February 2014, NJMG filed a complaint alleging that the governor’s office violated OPRA law. Subsequent court hearings required the governor’s office to provide sworn statements based on personal knowledge of the process of searching for the OPRA records. The appellate court ruled on Thursday that a report by Alexander H.
Southwell, a partner at the law firm representing the governor’s office, was not based on personal knowledge. 

“We therefore vacate the order dismissing plaintiff’s complaint … and remand for further proceedings based on competent evidence,” the court decision stated. 

The court also ruled that the Superior Court of New Jersey has the authority to impose penalties on the governor's office for not adhering to Open Public Record Acts laws. 

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Counsel for the governor’s office claimed that only the Government Records Council could institute penalties and not the Superior Court of New Jersey.

“Defendant contends that because OPRA does not contain a similar express grant of authority to the Superior Court, it can be reasonably inferred the Superior Court does not have the authority to impose a civil penalty,” the appellate court decision stated. “... We disagree.”

Sam Samaro, an attorney with the firm Pashman Stein Walder Hayden who argued the case on behalf of North Jersey Media Group, said the court opinion may have a significant impact on how the state responds to future records requests, because an employee who knowingly and willfully withholds information may be personally fined. That puts a financial burden on the employee and puts them at risk of having a “black mark” on their professional record if they are found to have knowingly withheld or denied information. 

“Records custodians will be very afraid to play fast and loose if they think they will be personally fined," Samaro said. "That’s important.”

Staff Writer Dustin Racioppi contributed to this article.

Email: jongsma@northjersey.com