NJ Police Privacy Statute Survives Reporter’s Legal Challenge

Police, prosecutors, and other law enforcement officers are protected by New Jersey law from publication of their home addresses—even if the address is the center of public misconduct reporting, the state appeals court ruled.

New Jersey’s public-officer privacy statute, known as Daniel’s Law, doesn’t violate US or state free speech protections by penalizing the publication of personal information of public servants, the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division ruled Friday.

Protecting “public officials from violent attacks and harassment is a compelling State interest of the highest order,” the court said in an unauthored opinion rejecting “the argument that there was ...