In an unpublished opinion issued today, the Appellate Division affirmed the GRC’s decision that a convicted felon may not obtain records pertaining to his victim and the victim’s family. Killion v. Hammonton Police Dept.

I believe this is the first appellate opinion dealing with OPRA’s provision (N.J.S.A. 47:1A-2.2) that a person convicted of an indictable offense may not have access to government records containing personal information related to the victim or the victim’s family. However, the opinion does not analyze this provision. Apparently, it was undisputed that the records in question fell within section 2.2; instead, Killion argued that this exemption didn’t apply because he made the OPRA request before he was convicted. The court summarily rejected this argument, saying that it would not second-guess the GRC’s conclusion that the privacy interests of the victim and the victim’s family required denial of the request.