A new bill in New Jersey would allow elected officials to sue you if you file too many information requests.
According to Reason.com, the bill would give allow courts to issue a restraining order “against requesters who intend to ‘harass’ government agencies or ‘substantially interrupt the performance of government function.’ The order could limit ‘the number and scope of requests the requestor may make,’ or even eliminate the requester’s right to obtain government records statewide.”
This is outrageous and will clearly be used to discourage constituents from seeking government transparency. The government should fear being harassed by its citizens and that should keep them honest. They should not have a way to clamp down on this.
The bill would also make it harder to sue the government when records requests are ignored.
Who thinks this is a good idea? Only government agencies. No thinking citizen would support this.
