Tab for Christie's fights over public records tops $900K

[malaise]

http://www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/governor/2016/12/27/christie-administration-payouts-records-suits-top-900k/95795260/
<snip>
The taxpayer tab for Gov. Chris Christie's legal fights to keep public records private over the past two years is more than $450,000 — bringing the total since 2012 to more than $900,000 — according to new records that outline the settlement costs.

The Record, whose former publisher was awarded attorney's fees last year, requested documents under the state's Open Public Records Act for payouts in 2015 and 2016 to claimants or law firms who have brought cases against the administration alleging violations of the law. In those two years, the documents show, Christie's administration went to court 33 times over public records requests and paid $459,000 in fees. Between 2012 and 2014, the administration paid $441,000 to attorneys in cases involving the law, known as OPRA, the Associated Press found.

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey joined that case but did not receive attorney's fees, said Ed Barocas, the chapter's legal director. But the case, opened in 2011, shows the administration's willingness to shield information from the public, he said. The chapter has challenged "numerous" denials for records by the administration, winning most of them, he said.

"It does seem that under the Christie Administration the default position for much of the time was to look for a reason to deny a request rather than to err on the side of transparency, as it's contemplated under the statute," Barocas said.

[Angry Dragon]

1. Move along, nothing to see here

But they spend millions on searching for the e-mails

[malaise]

2. All Thugs

all the time

[LisaM]

3. They HAD the emails.

They spent millions trying to retroactively re-classify little bits of them to no avail.