{"id":2261302,"date":"2024-06-06T12:27:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-06T16:27:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-jerseys-murphy-signs-law-that-could-cloud-government-proceedings\/"},"modified":"2024-06-06T12:31:18","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T16:31:18","slug":"new-jerseys-murphy-signs-law-that-could-cloud-government-proceedings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-jerseys-murphy-signs-law-that-could-cloud-government-proceedings\/","title":{"rendered":"New Law Signed by Murphy May Impact Government Proceedings in New Jersey"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnew-jerseys-murphy-signs-law-that-could-cloud-government-proceedings%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2261302&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey recently\u200d signed a\u2063 law \u200cthat will overhaul the \u2064state&#8217;s Open Public\u200c Records Act,\u200d causing concerns about reduced transparency \u2063and increased corruption. The \u2063governor \u2063defended his decision with \u2064a signing statement, citing the need for updates after 22 years.\u2062 Critics fear \u2062the law will eliminate \u200cfee shifting, impacting transparency. Sarah \u200dFajardo of the ACLU called the \u200csigning &#8220;shameful.&#8221;  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Gov. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/phil-murphy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Phil Murphy<\/a> (D-NJ) signed a law Wednesday that will revamp New Jersey\u2019s Open Public Records Act, to the chagrin of those who say it will make <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/government-accountability\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>government<\/a> less transparent and enable corruption.<\/p>\n<p>The governor used a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net\/20240605\/18\/f4\/d1\/01\/c94cfbb03c290751bd130e28\/S2930.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>signing statement<\/a>\u201d to justify his choice to finalize legislation NJ S2930 (24R), saying the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/monday-september-20th-2021\/\" title=\"Monday | September 20th, 2021\">act needed<\/a> changes after going without an update for 22 years. Murphy has acknowledged the controversy over the bill.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to acknowledge that I know that this decision will disappoint many members of the advocacy community, including a number of social justice, labor, and environmental organizations, among others,\u201d Murphy wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPerhaps the most troubling concern that I have heard is that signing this bill will both enable corruption and erode trust in our democracy,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n<p>The largest problem detractors have with the bill is that it will end \u201cfee shifting,\u201d in which governments pay the \u201creasonable\u201d legal costs for any requester who successfully challenges a records denial in court. Instead, it will leave the action up to a judge, who would only award the costs if the denial was in \u201cbad faith.\u201d Sarah Fajardo, policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, called the bill\u2019s signing \u201cshameful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe public opposition to S2930\/A4045 was a powerful display of democracy at its best \u2014 advocates, stakeholders, and 81% of voters from across the ideological spectrum made it clear that New Jersey should be strengthening government transparency, not undermining it in backroom deals,\u201d Fajardo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aol.com\/gov-murphy-signs-legislation-dismantles-200643835.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s shameful that despite overwhelming concerns from their constituents, lawmakers fast-tracked, and the governor signed, a bill that severely restricts access to government records and limits the public\u2019s ability to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-democrats-h-r-1-is-a-power-grab-would-undermine-states-election-rules\/\" title=\"Republicans: Democrats\u2019 H.R. 1 Is a Power Grab, Would Undermine States\u2019 Election Rules\">hold elected officials accountable<\/a>. But we know that voters will have the last word at the ballot box next year \u2014 and maybe then Legislators will remember who they are meant to serve,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>Some other stipulations in the law include barring access to most metadata in government files, barring those from distributing any media containing \u201cany indecent or graphic images of the subject\u2019s intimate part\u201d without their consent, and requiring requesters to be more specific when searching for emails and other communications from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/schiff-nadler-call-flynn-pardon-abuse-of-power\/\" title=\"Schiff, Nadler Call Flynn Pardon 'Abuse of Power'\">government officials<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Murphy also acknowledges the bill\u2019s likely subpar timing, months after Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) was indicted on corruption charges. He is fighting the charges in his trial while running as an independent for his reelection bid.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cNew Jerseyans across the political spectrum feel deeply betrayed and outraged by the serious allegations that our senior United States Senator accepted bribes from a foreign government,\u201d Murphy said, referencing Menendez.<\/p>\n<p>The bill comes after several other moves that New Jersey\u2019s government has made to protect government officials\u2019 privacy. Lawmakers recently made it so they don\u2019t have to list their own homes or second homes unless they earn money from renting them out. Another law, \u201cDaniel\u2019s Law,\u201d signed in the wake of the murder of a judge\u2019s son, redacted the addresses and phone numbers of judges, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/public-radio-reporter-arrested-for-firebombing-police-cars\/\" title=\"Public Radio \u201cReporter\u201d Arrested For Firebombing Police Cars\">law enforcement officials<\/a>, and others.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Jersey&#8217;s Governor Phil Murphy signed a controversial law amending the state&#8217;s Open Public Records Act. Critics fear it may reduce transparency and facilitate corruption. Governor Murphy defended his decision with a &#8220;signing statement,&#8221; citing the necessity for changes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2261303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP24157731297026.jpg.optimal.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2261302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP24157731297026.jpg.optimal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2261302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2261303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2261302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2261302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2261302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}