The New Jersey Supreme Court largely upheld the Appellate Division’s opinion that delivered a major victory for advocates of police-department transparency. The Court upheld the Attorney General’s directives that require law enforcement agencies to publish a synopsis of all complaints, which resulted in certain adverse employment actions against police officers. The main change the Court made to the Appellate Division’s ruling was to permit as-applied challenge in circumstances where the officer consented to certain allegations with the specific assurances that it would remain confidential. Without the right to bring an as-applied challenge to these disclosures, the directives would directly undercut the prior agreements.
