Court Rules Bridgewater Email Addresses Will Not Be Released To Anti-Hate Group

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Bridgewater Township residents' privacy and email addresses will remain protected after the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court ruled in favor of Bridgewater Township in a lawsuit filed by Rise Against Hate.

"This ruling is a huge win for our residents and for privacy rights," said Bridgewater Township Mayor Matthew Moench in a release. "We fought hard to protect the personal information of our community."

Rise Against Hate, a 501 (c)(3) group, had previously filed a lawsuit in November 2021 against Bridgewater after they were denied access to residents' email addresses under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA). Read More: Bridgewater Email Addresses May Be Released To Anti-Hate Group

In response to the lawsuit, Bridgewater Township filed an appeal in January 2022 to stop the release of residents' emails in an effort to protect the privacy of its citizens. Read More: Bridgewater Files Appeal To Stop Release Of Residents' Email List

"We refused to accept the Court’s initial ruling," said Moench. "With the guidance of our Attorneys, Chris Corsini and Matthew Flynn, and with the unwavering support of the Township Council, we made a decision to keep pushing forward. This was a battle too significant to surrender without a fight."

Rise Against Hate also filed lawsuits against Cherry Hill, and West Deptford after submitting a public record request for access to the towns' newsletter mailing lists and was denied.

Judges Heidi Willis Currier, Patrick DeAlmeida and Cathrine Enright of the Appellate Court ultimately ruled in favor of Bridgewater, ruling that the Township did not have to disclose any resident email addresses. The court issued a decision on the matter on March 29 stating:

At issue is whether, in the circumstances presented here, members of the public have an objectively reasonable expectation in the privacy of their email addresses sufficient to protect them from disclosure under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA), N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 to -13. We conclude members of the public who submit their email addresses to receive electronic newsletters and notices from a municipality have an objectively reasonable expectation that their email addresses will not be disclosed to a non-government organization that intends to send unsolicited emails to them to further the organization's political and social objectives.

Rise Against Hate founder Benjamin Shore did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment on the court's ruling.

"Our residents signed up for Bridgewater news, not spam from an organization they've never heard of," stated Council President Michael Kirsh in the release. "It's common sense - we must protect their email addresses and only deliver the information they've requested. Our victory in this case upholds our commitment to transparency, privacy, and accountability."

"The Open Public Records Act was put into place in order to safeguard government transparency and combat institutionalized corruption in our government from the top to the bottom. It was not, in any way, meant to be a backdoor for organizations to fill out their subscriber list without having to do any of the legwork or community building," aid Moench. "We're grateful that the court recognized the importance of protecting privacy and preventing predatory and reprehensible tactics by shortsighted organizations."

See the full court's decision below:

Civil Case Jacket by Alexis Tarrazi on Scribd

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