New law safeguards personal information of those who serve in the justice system

Daniel’s Law is named after the son of a judge who was killed in their North Brunswick home

In an effort to enhance the state’s ability to protect members of the justice system and their immediate family members, a bill sponsored by Assemblywomen Annette Quijano and Yvonne Lopez, Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin, and Assemblyman Raj Mukherji was signed into law on Jan. 12.

The new law, formerly bill A-6171, will help safeguard those who serve in the justice system by creating a new process to allow former or current judicial officers, prosecutors, law enforcement officers and their immediate family members living in the same residence to make their home addresses and personal identifying information private, according to information provided by the New Jersey Assembly Democrats on Jan. 12.

The law seeks to address challenges with the implementation of Daniel’s Law, which was signed into law in 2020 to protect the home addresses and telephone numbers of judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officers from public disclosure.

Daniel’s Law was created in response to the death of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas’ son, Daniel Anderl, 20, who was shot and killed in their North Brunswick home on July 19, 2020.

Salas’ husband, Mark Anderl, who is a criminal defense attorney, was seriously injured in the attack carried out by Roy Den Hollander, who targeted the family because of his disdain for Salas and her role as a federal judge, according to reports. Salas sits on the bench in the District of New Jersey, Newark. Hollander had previously argued a case before Salas and used publicly available information to target the family, according to reports.

“My husband and I thank the Senate Judiciary Committee from our hearts,” Salas said in a statement released by Sen. Bob Menendez in December during a passage of the initial bill. “Daniel’s death showed tragically that threats against federal judges are real, and they have dire consequences. I urge Congress to follow the committee’s lead and ensure that judges can perform their duties without fear, for themselves or their families.”

Under the new law, the Office of Information Privacy in the Department of Community Affairs will be created to allow authorized persons to submit or revoke a request for the redaction or nondisclosure of a covered person’s home address from certain public records or internet postings.

Such requests must be submitted through a secure portal and approved by the director of the Office of Information Privacy.

Upon the bill becoming law, Quijano (D-Union), Lopez (D-Middlesex), Coughlin (D-Middlesex) and Mukherji (D-Hudson) issued the following joint statement:

“For the men and women who take on the responsibility of serving as judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officers, making difficult and sometimes unpopular decisions is part of the job. It is critical that we offer these public servants protection and safeguard them from possible retaliation should they be targeted for doing their jobs.

“With this new law, we can better protect the privacy of our judges and prosecutors by ensuring that their personal addresses do not fall into the wrong hands.”