Court Upholds N.J. Law That Lets “Certain Public Officials” Demand That Private Entities Stop Disclosing Their Home Addresses
From Tuesday’s decision by Judge Harvey Bartle (E.D. Pa.) in Atlas Data Privacy Corp. v. We Inform, LLC (D.N.J.):
Daniel’s Law [a New Jersey civil and criminal statute] provides that judges, prosecutors and other law enforcement officers as well as their immediate family members (“covered persons”) may request in writing that any person, business, or association not disclose or make available their home addresses and unpublished telephone numbers….
In July 2020, a disgruntled lawyer who had litigated before United States District Judge Esther Salas sought to assassinate her at her home in New Jersey. After finding her home address on the Internet, the lawyer showed up on a Sunday evening armed and dressed as a delivery driver. Daniel Anderl, Judge Salas’s twenty-year-old son, answered the door and was fatally shot by the lawyer. Her husband and Daniel’s father was severely wounded. The lawyer then fled. In response to these crimes, the New Jersey Legislature passed Daniel’s Law in November 2020 and has amended it thereafter.
Daniel’s Law, as declared by the New Jersey Legislature, was enacted to serve the following goals:
This act shall be liberally construed in order to accomplish its purpose and the public policy of this State, which is to enhance the safety and security of certain public officials in the justice system, including judicial officers, law enforcement officers, child protective investigators[,] … and prosecutors, who serve or have served the people of New Jersey, and the immediate family members of these individuals, to foster the ability of these public servants who perform critical roles in the justice system to carry out their official duties without fear of personal reprisal from affected individuals related to the performance of their public functions.
The law prohibits any entity when requested from thereafter disclosing the home address and unpublished telephone number of a covered person …. A “covered person” is defined as “an active, formerly active, or retired judicial officer, law enforcement officer, or child protective investigator …, or prosecutor and any immediate family member
Article from Reason.com
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