NJ Senate to vote on open public records bill this afternoon

From Planet Princeton:

(February 7, 2013) – The New Jersey Senate is slated to vote on changes to the State’s Open Public Records Act today that are supposed to provide citizens with more access to public records. But many open government advocates no longer support the bill because of a key change regarding legal fees. The New Jersey Press Association also opposes the legal fee change.

At a forum at Rutgers University last night, journalists and open public records advocates questioned why wording in the legislation was changed to make the awarding of legal fees optional and not mandatory when a citizen challenges a public records denial by a public agency and is victorious in court.