New Jersey Town That Sued a Woman for Public Records Requests Now Wants Lawyer Prosecuted for Same Thing

Irvington, New Jersey, just can’t help itself. First, it tried to sue an elderly woman for filing too many public records requests, and now it’s suggesting that a lawyer for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) be criminally prosecuted for doing the same.

FIRE attorney Adam Steinbaugh detailed in a blog post yesterday how the Irvington city clerk recommended that he be prosecuted for perjury for submitting records requests under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA).

One would think the town would have learned its lesson. Irvington made national headlines last March after it filed a lawsuit accusing 82-year-old Elouise McDaniel of bullying, harassing, and defaming officials, in part because she had filed more than 75 public records requests for township information over a three-year period.

It also sent two cease-and-desist letters to a local New York news outlet NBC4 after the outlet’s investigative team started poking around the story, similarly accusing it of harassment and of aiding McDaniel, whom it described as a political adversary of the mayor.

After the story went viral and several very competent lawyers announced they would represent McDaniel, the town dropped the lawsuit. Unsurprisingly, no Irvington official wanted to take credit for the debacle. The mayor said he had never seen the lawsuit, and the city clerk, Harold Wiener, said he’d never requested it.

Lawsuits don’t magically appear and walk themselves down to the courthouse, though. Steinbaugh filed OPRA requests seeking invoices, retainers, and other documents that could shed light on who initiated the litigation.

After Irvington