Fight Over Bridgewater Residents' Emails Continues, Supreme Court To Weigh In

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — The fight over the release of Bridgewater Township residents' email addresses continues.

After the township's recent victory in the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court, Rise Against Hate, a 501 (c)(3) group, petitioned the New Jersey Supreme Court to hear their request. Read More: Bridgewater Email Addresses Will Not Be Released To Anti-Hate Group

The Supreme Court accepted their petition and a court date is now pending.

The group's appeal consists of three consolidated cases against Bridgewater, West Deptford, and Cherry Hill for which they previously had a public record request for access to the towns' newsletter mailing lists and were denied.

"We are happy with that result, as the Court agrees to hear only a very small percentage of cases every year," Attorney for Rise Against Hate(RAH) CJ Griffin told Patch.

"We are hopeful we can convince the Court to reverse the Appellate Division’s decision and instead affirm the decisions of the three trial judges who held that RAH is entitled to these email lists," said Griffin. "Often these email lists become marketing tools for incumbent politicians to tout their successes, but RAH believes that residents should also be aware of various civil rights issues as well, such as rises in bias crimes or racial disparities in local policing."

In the original case, Rise Against Hate used Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests to seek access to the email addresses of Bridgewater residents who had voluntarily subscribed to the Township's newsletter services. Read More: Bridgewater Email Addresses May Be Released To Anti-Hate Group

The Township called it an invasion of privacy and will continue the fight for residents' privacy rights.

"We are confident that the New Jersey Supreme Court will recognize the importance of safeguarding our residents' privacy and uphold the unanimous decision of the Appellate Court," stated Bridgewater Township Mayor Matthew Moench. "Bridgewater Township remains committed to our residents and will steadfastly defend their rights to privacy. The Open Public Records Act is a critical tool for citizens seeking information and transparency from their government. It is not a means for ill-intended organizations, like this one, to steal our resident’s private information. We will not give up on this fight."

Council Vice President Timothy Ring said, "Our residents trusted us with their email addresses for the sole purpose of receiving Bridgewater news, not unsolicited emails from unknown organizations. It is our responsibility to protect their information and deliver only the content they have requested. My Council colleagues and I are in lock step on this issue."

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