FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jessica
Parrotta
Email:
parrotta@eden.rutgers.edu
Telephone: (732)
932-7500, Ext. 8025
Cell: 862-432-9048
Or Ron Miskoff
rmiskoff@rci.rutgers.edu
Cell: 732-278-1868
SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL
JOURNALISTS SPONSORING AN OPEN PUBLIC RECORDS ACT FORUM
The importance of knowing
which records are public and how to request them is not a topic usually covered
in class, but is an essential topic for students interested in journalism, law,
political science, or any topic that requires understanding of government. For
this reason, New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act is an imperative law for any
student and citizen to know about. Although the law was designed to make
getting public records easy, many have complained that subtle nuances in the
law have allowed record keepers to complicate and delay the process. This session
will clarify this process and give some of the basics that students or citizens
need to find out what their government — local, state, or University — is
doing.
The Rutgers chapter of the
Society of Professional Journalists invites you to attend a forum on the Open
Public Records Act, Wednesday, October 14, 2009, from 7 to 9 p.m. The seminar
will take place in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Rutgers Student Center on the
campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. For directions, go to this
web location: http://search.rutgers.edu/buildings.html?q=student%20center.
Experts John Paff and Walter
Luers will discuss the New Jersey Open Public Records Act to help students and
the public with obtaining paper and electronic records for assignments or any
use. John Paff chairs the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Open Government
Advocacy Project, which works for greater governmental transparency, especially
at the local level. He also serves as a board member of the New Jersey
Foundation for Open Government.
Attorney Walter M. Luers
specializes in cases regarding the Open Public Records Act and Open Public
Meetings Act. As a member of the board of the New Jersey Foundation for Open
Government, he regularly represents clients in New Jersey Superior Court and
the Government Records Council against public agencies who have violated the
Open Public Records Act.
The night is co-sponsored by
the Journalism & Media Studies department, the Journalism Resources
Institute, and The New Jersey Foundation for Open Government.
