Spinks v. Twp. of Clinton, 402 N.J. Super. 454 (App. Div. 2008)

Under New Jersey Law, there is a “strong presumption” that documents filed in court are accessible to the public, and a person seeking to overcome that presumption and to obtain a protective order barring their release must affirmatively prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the interest in secrecy outweighs the interest in public access. The need for secrecy must be demonstrated with specificity as to each document. Broad allegations of harm, unsubstantiated by specific examples or articulated reasoning, are insufficient. In Spinks v. Twp. of Clinton, 402 N.J. Super. 454 (App. Div. 2008), the Appellate Division held that the mere fact that a police manual provides that internal affairs investigations shall be confidential and that investigatory records “shall be restricted” is insufficient to bar public access to such records once filed in court.