Entities

New Jersey (9)
Topics and Issues

Daniel's Law (7)

Privacy (42)

Kratovil v. City of Brunswick

  • Complaint filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Middlesex County, Docket No. MID-L-003896-23 (July 12, 2023). The case was before Judge Joseph L. Rea.
  • Superior Court Judge Rea dismissed the complaint and upheld the constitutionality of the statute. Kratovil moved that (1) The city be enjoined from preventing Kratovil’s “publication of truthful, lawfully obtained information;” (2) Two provisions of state law, N.J.S.A. 2C:20-31.1 and N.J.S.A. 56:8-166.1 be declared “unconstitutional under the New Jersey Constitution, as applied to a journalist seeking to publish information on a newsworthy story;” (3) That the “Cease-and-Desist Notice letter received on May 15, 2023, and sent pursuant to Daniel’s Law is null and void as applied to Plaintiff;” and that (4) The Plaintiff “is entitled to attorneys’ fees and costs pursuant to the New Jersey Civil Rights Act, N.J.S.A. 10:6-1 et seq.; Plaintiff and Defendants shall negotiate fees prior to submitting a fee application.”

Following oral argument on Sept. 21, 2023, before Judge Rea, the plaintiff’s motion was denied (Sept. 21, 2023)

  • Brief on appeal to the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division filed by the plaintiff-appellant, Charles Kratovil. Docket No. A-000216-23T1. Kratovil is represented by the ACLU of New Jersey (Oct. 31, 2023).
  • Amicus brief filed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (Dec. 2023). As noted in a Reporters Committee blog post: (1) Daniel’s Law cannot constitutionally be applied either to restrain Kratovil from publishing Caputo’s address or to punish him for doing so. The trial court order is a prior restraint that cannot survive First Amendment scrutiny; (2) The trial court’s application of Daniel’s Law to Kratovil, if not reversed, will stifle journalism in the public interest; and (3) The trial court inserted itself in the role of super-editor. Its application of Daniel’s Law to prohibit a journalist from reporting particular true facts infringes on the constitutionally protected exercise of editorial discretion by the independent press.

Relevant Documents:

Additional Resources: