In an unpublished November 21, 2013 decision, a two-judge Appellate Division panel affirmed Essex County Judge Rachel Davidson's October 12, 2012 dismissal of my Open Public Records Act (OPRA) complaint against Community Education Centers, Inc., a private corporation that provides prison services to Essex County through an agreement with an intermediary non-profit corporation. The Appellate Division's written decision is on-line here and background information on the case is on-line here.
My basic argument is that running prisons is a traditional function of government and that a government's decision to contract its prisons to a private vendor should not deprive citizens of access to the records that would be attainable if the government operates the prisons directly.
Attorney Richard Gutman of Montclair will be asking the Supreme Court to hear my appeal in this case.