Bridgewater appeals judges’ ruling to turn over some residents’ email addresses

BRIDGEWATER – The township has joined Cherry Hill in appealing two judges' ruling that the municipalities must turn over the email addresses of recipients of government newsletters to a civil rights group.

Rise Against Hate, a Cherry Hill-based nonprofit with a "watchdog" mission of raising public awareness of racism and investigating racial disparities, filed suit against Bridgewater in November in Superior Court in Somerset County after the township refused to release the email addresses of residents who receive the township's email newsletters.

The group did not request under the state's Open Public Records Act (OPRA) any personal identification information, such as names, street addresses and Social Security numbers.

Rise Against Hate, according to its legal papers, requested the email addresses in September so that "citizens in many historically marginalized communities (can be) informed as to what chances they have of being the victim of a hate crime in their community and to provide citizens statistical data so they can see on a comparative basis how one county or town responds to hate crimes compared to others."

In its brief, the organization argues that it "has a great need for the email addresses to accomplish its mission of eliminating discrimination by keeping township citizens apprised of current events and township's actions or inactions that impact or press upon the citizens' civil rights."

The organization also argued that the disclosure of the addresses "will actually help the township engage in self-evaluation and improvement, by allowing the township to hear from informed citizens and encourage citizens, who desire change to protect civil rights and stop discrimination, to stand up and effect a difference" in how the township responds to hate crimes.

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Superior Court Judge Thomas Miller ruled in favor of the organization, saying that previous court rulings have interpreted that OPRA allows the release of personal email records stored by the government because they are public records.

"While the township understandably wants to protect the privacy of its residents," Miller wrote, "email addresses are so freely provided that the township's interest in preventing disclosure is outweighed by (Rise against Hate's) need for the mailing list."

However, the judge wrote that because he "understands that the release of personal email addresses through OPRA is a sensitive subject and cannot yet be considered law," he will delay enforcing the ruling until a state appellate court decides a similar case brought by Rise Against Hate against Cherry Hill, which also denied the release of email addresses.

Miller also delayed the payment of $4,826.70 in attorney fees and court costs to Rise Against hate pending the appellate court decision

Mayor Matt Moench, in a press release, decried the "bullying tactics" of the organization.

"This is the next step in our fight to protect our residents' privacy against the bullying tactics of Rise Against Hate," Moench stated. "It's sad that a group that identifies as civil right warriors continues to show such unremitting disdain for the privacy rights of our residents."

The mayor also criticized the organization for submitting another OPRA request for his emails that mention Rise Against Hate.

"The only thing that Rise Against Hate is going to learn from my township email account is that the residents think that (Rise Against Hate's) civil rights 'activism' is as hypocritical and self-indulgent as I do," Moench stated.

Rise Against Hate this month has also filed suit against Woodbridge, South Brunswick and the New Brunswick Police Department for not releasing the records of complaint summonses and complaint warrants.

In all, the group has filed suit against 20 New Jersey municipalities.

Rise Against Hate, a national organization based in Washington, D.C., with an office in Cherry Hill, has developed a comparative hate crime analysis and breakdown for municipalities and counties, including Somerset.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Bridgewater appeals ruling to release some residents’ email addresses