State of New Jersey PHILIP D. MURPHY Governor OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY DIVISION OF LAW GURBIR S. GREWAL SHEILA Y. OLIVER 25 MARKET STREET MICHELLE L. MILLER Lt. Governor PO Box 112 Attorney General Director TRENTON, NJ 08625-0112 October 19, 2020 VIA E-MAIL Heather Joy Baker, Clerk Attention: Matthew Kelly Supreme Court of New Jersey Hughes Justice Complex 25 Market Street, P.O. Box 097 Trenton, New Jersey 08625 SupremeEmergent.mbx@njcourts.gov Re: In re Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive Nos. 2020-5 and 2020-6____________________________________ Supreme Court Docket No.: Appellate Division Docket Nos.: A-3950-19; A-3975-19; A-3985-19; A-3987-19; A-4002-19 Dear Ms. Baker: The State has received appellant-petitioners’ applications for emergent relief in connection with the above matters, and now writes to provide further information on its planned timing to the extent this Court finds it helpful. By way of background, on October 16, 2020, the Appellate Division affirmed two July 2020 Directives issued by the Attorney General. The first, Directive 2020-5, requires law enforcement agencies to publish brief summaries each year of which officers received major disciplinary sanctions, and to issue their first report by the end of 2020. The second, Directive 2020-6, requires three agencies in the Department of Law and Public Safety - the Division of State Police, the Division of Criminal Justice, and the Juvenile Justice Commission – to publish summaries of which officers received major disciplinary sanctions for each year going back to 2000. After affirming both Directives, the Appellate Division continued its previously-ordered stay of the Directives HUGHES JUSTICE COMPLEX • TELEPHONE: (609) 376-2960 • FAX: (609) 633-7494 New Jersey Is An Equal Opportunity Employer • Printed on Recycled Paper and Recyclable October 19, 2020 Page 2 “for five days only, to permit appellants to file an immediate petition for certification and application for any further stay in the Supreme Court.” In light of that decision, the State will not be publishing any reports until November 30, 2020, at the earliest. During that time, as contemplated by the Appellate Division, the Department of Law and Public Safety does intend to provide supplemental notice to affected officers regarding the planned reporting, to allow for the filing of any potential as-applied challenges. The State chose this date so as to balance the needs of the public for greater transparency at this critical moment with the need to ensure that appellants could expeditiously file - and this Court can review petitions for certification. Of course, if this Court has not decided whether to grant or deny certification as of November 30, 2020, the State agrees that the reports may not issue at that time, and the State instead will await the Court’s disposition of the petitions. In the same vein, if this Court ultimately does grant certification, the State agrees no reports may issue until this Court has resolved the case on the merits. The State believes that this should address the concerns raised by appellants in their applications. To best effectuate appellants’ interest in the review of their petition with the State’s interest in promptly implementing its Directives, the State thus respectfully requests this Court issue an expedited certification briefing schedule that would allow for resolution of the forthcoming petitions prior to November 30, 2020. Similarly, if the Court ultimately does grant certification, the State respectfully requests an expedited merits briefing schedule at the Court’s discretion. Thank you for your attention in this matter. Sincerely yours, GURBIR S. GREWAL ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NEW JERSEY By: cc: /s/Jeremy M. Feigenbaum_______ Jeremy M. Feigenbaum State Solicitor All counsel of record (via e-mail)