Quote:
|
MotherJones: Republican Chris Christie promised "a new era of accountability and transparency." But five years later, local reporters and watchdog groups accuse Christie's administration of making unprecedented efforts to keep public records a secret...media outlets have been forced to sue to obtain even routinely disclosed information...(His) administration is fighting 23 different open-records requests in court...
|
From a
2013 New York Times story (mostly from the photo captions):
Quote:
- Sheriff Deborah Trout was accused of hiring deputies without conducting proper background checks.
- When the charges became public, the indicted undersheriff, Michael Russo, shrugged it off...Governor Christie, he assured an aide, would “have this whole thing thrown out...” That sounded like bluster. Then the state killed the case.
- Paula T. Dow, Gov. Chris Christie’s appointee as New Jersey attorney general, supervised the quashing of the indictment of the Hunterdon County sheriff.
- Bennett A. Barlyn was dismissed as a Hunterdon County prosecutor after claiming that the state attorney general killed an indictment to protect prominent supporters of Gov. Chris Christie.
The grand jurors’ wounds have not healed. “I still get angry,” one said. “It was shameful and I keep trying to put it behind me because it was so obvious this was about politics.”
...Mr. Barlyn...said he mourned the loss of his career as a prosecutor...(He) now teaches at a middle school. “I think about what happened all the time; it wasn’t subtle,” he said. “In the end, it’s easy to get rid of a prosecutor. But it raises that question: In New Jersey, who watches the watchman?”
|
Rachel Maddow also explains it all for you (if you find that you're geoblocked, drop me a line):
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-s...y-131725379572
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-s...s-131725379590
Well, at least one open records request has finally been resolved:
Quote:
NJ.com: A former Hunterdon County assistant prosecutor who claims he was fired for objecting to the dismissal of indictments against supporters of Gov. Chris Christie has been granted access to secret documents that he says will help prove his case. A state Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that the state must provide the former prosecutor, Bennett Barlyn, access to sealed grand jury transcripts related to the indictments.
The state argued that grand jury documents are usually kept secret to protect witnesses and others involved in criminal cases. But Barlyn's attorney...argued...that the documents should be released to his client because the three officials indicted in the matter...(former Hunterdon County Sheriff Deborah Trout, former Undersheriff Michael Russo, and former Sheriff's Investigator John Falat Jr.)...were already granted access to them...
|
One open records request down, 22 to go...but this loss for Christie could turn out to be the biggest one.