It generally requires all meetings of public bodies to be open, but there’s also a host of exclusions - like for discussions regarding personnel matters, pending litigation, or any issue “considered confidential by law or court rule.” The law “gives the public the right to be present at meetings of public bodies and to witness in full detail the deliberation, policy formulation and decision making of public bodies,” according to the New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Open meetings conducted by public bodies in New Jersey are governed by the “Sunshine Law,” otherwise known as the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA). “And I would say that in comparison to many states, New Jersey is actually probably more on the side of openness and transparency,” Hale added. Hale is also an elected council member in Highland Park. “In many parts of the country, there is no Open Public Meeting Act…so from that perspective, we’re certainly ahead of many places,” said Matthew Hale, Ph.D, associate professor for the department of political science and public affairs at Seton Hall University. In fact, policy experts and public officials told NJ Advance Media that public bodies in the Garden State, like your local board of education or town council, have more leeway in this regard than you might think. But the Wall Board of Education is well within its rights to revoke the courtesy of livestreaming under state law. Surely, this must be some breach of the public body’s transparency obligation, critics mused in online forums. (TNS) - When New Jersey's Wall Township Board of Education announced earlier this month that it would no longer be livestreaming its meetings, the news came as a surprise to some of the district’s constituents.
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