Fred Burnett, Plaintiff-Appellant v. County of Bergen and Bergen County Clerk’s Office, Defendants-Respondents

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed the trial court’s order requiring the Bergen County Clerk to redact Social Security numbers from the bulk realty records requested by Data Trace and to place the cost of redaction on the requestor, while vacating the Appellate Division’s judgment on watermarking as moot. The Court applied OPRA’s privacy provision and the balancing test from Doe v. Poritz to require redaction, and declined to reach the constitutional privacy issue. Justice Albin’s dissent argues that the statute plainly permits disclosure without redaction and that the majority improperly overrides the clear language of N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(a).