Radical Transparency and the Test Ahead for Gov. Sherrill

As lawmakers consider expanding Daniel’s Law to include legislators, Gov. Mikie Sherrill may soon face an early test of her promise of “radical transparency.”

By William Swanson

CentralObserver.com

Mikie Sherrill was speaking about a year ago in Montclair when she was still a congresswoman. Talking about her run for governor, Sherrill spoke of the need for “radical transparency.”

The now-governor eventually will be tested along those lines — and perhaps pretty soon.

Legislation has been introduced that would expand Daniel’s Law, which protects certain law enforcement personnel. The bill is A-4436.

Background on Daniel’s Law

Daniel’s Law is named after Daniel Anderl, who was killed during a home invasion at the residence of his mother, U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas, in 2020. The perpetrator was unhappy with her rulings and researched her home address in North Brunswick.

The law, adopted in response to that attack, allows judges, prosecutors, police officers, and other law enforcement personnel to shield their home addresses and home phone numbers from public records.

The Proposed Expansion

Now there is a proposal to expand those protections to include municipal court administrators and legislators.

They are not the same.

It is logical to include court administrators in the law given the fact they are involved in law enforcement. But legislators?

By any account, this is an interesting add-on.

It is true that we live in very polarized times. And yes, elected officials could be targets. That is even the case with state lawmakers who tend to be not widely known.

Quick readers — who are the three state legislators in your district?

Anonymity is not total protection. Those determined can find out easily enough who represents them in Trenton.

At the same time, should elected officials be viewed differently than career public employees?

Unlike police officers or assistant prosecutors who go about their jobs every day, state lawmakers seek and campaign for the office they want.

Once they get there, a big part of the job is interacting with the public. If you don’t do that, you are not doing the job properly.

Lawmakers are elected to serve a specific geographic region. Where they live is pertinent.

Put another way, those who enter public life should not seek to hide from the public. Risks come with the job, as they do with many jobs.

Back to Sherrill

This bill is in an Assembly committee, so how it progresses is unknown.

What is known is that earlier this year — in the waning days of the Murphy administration — there was a move in the Legislature to weaken the state Comptroller’s Office, which investigates public corruption.

The bill was criticized and then abandoned.

Sources say one of the critics, behind the scenes, was the incoming governor herself.

Score one for transparency.

Now let’s see what Sherrill does if this bill begins to move along.