Press not exempt from law limiting publication of officials’ addresses, court rules

By: Nakita Biryukov, New Jersey Monitor, June 17, 2025

Journalist accused New Brunswick of unconstitutional effort to chill protected speech.

City officials in 2023 threatened a journalist with civil and criminal penalties if he published the home address of a former police director he got through public records. The journalist challenged the city in court, and the New Jersey Supreme Court on June 17, 2025, sided with the city. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor)

A state law that shields from public disclosure the addresses and phone numbers of police, prosecutors, and judges can be used to bar press from publishing that information, the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously ruled Tuesday.