New Jersey OPRA Request Rejection Phrasing

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to Open Public Records Act ("OPRA"), I hereby request the following records:

A list of all electronic correspondence (emails, memos, etc.) containing the following phrase:

Please be advised that other entities’ OPRA requests are exempt from disclosure under OPRA, as are the responses of government agencies to those OPRA requests. The Appellate Division has recognized that there is an “interest of third parties in protecting the confidentiality of their requests for access to public documents” under OPRA. Gannett N.J. Partners, LP v. Cnty. of Middlesex, 379 N.J. Super. 205, 212 (App. Div 2005). For that reason, “OPRA does not authorize a party to make a blanket request for every document a public agency has provided another party in response to an OPRA request,” nor does it permit requests that would reveal “the nature and scope of a third party’s inquiry to a government agency.”

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 7 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Beryl Lipton