a journalist from Jersey has now found himself at the center of the story he was reporting on New Brunswick today reporter Charlie crowderville was served with cease and desist notice after raising questions about where New Brunswick's director of police lives he did it during a public meeting Carterville says he was threatened with criminal prosecution after he questioned why Anthony Caputo resides in and is registered to vote more than a two-hour drive from his employer the city says crowderville reporting the street Caputo lives on violates Daniel's law which prohibits the disclosure of certain public officials home addresses to protect their safety and was enacted after a federal judge's son was killed in her home but the ACLU is fighting back on craterville's behalf arguing it's unconstitutional to use Daniel's law to limit journalists from reporting on public officials Charlie crowderville joins me to explain why Charlie officials are now accusing you of putting this public official endanger by revealing the street name he lives on what's your response to that I think it's absolutely absurd we're talking about a civilian police director who is an appointed member of our parking authority board and you know what I did was raise this issue to the city council that our Police director and an appointed member of a important City Board is residing over two hours away and raising important questions about how much work he's actually doing he you know for those watching especially those who disagree with you why was it important to you to include the street name he lives on well I think it's the reason I brought it up is I think that the council member should punch that into Google Maps and see just how far away the director is living I thought it would be uh you know over the top to mention the the street number but I did tell the council what street he lives on in Cape May and I don't think I did anything wrong by doing that the thing that they're citing uh Charlie is is Daniel's law you know as a reason for the cease and desist and we know you know there that is a law and so is this a public official that's protected under that law we actually don't have any way to know uh he's eligible to apply for the protection and he could have done so and he could have been approved but the way this law works is very secretive so I try to contact the office of information privacy and ask if I give you a name can you tell me if this person is covered by the law and they declined they said we can't tell you yeah it's for viewers who are watching you know the way the law works is it protects personal information of active or retired judges or prosecutors law enforcement officers and their immediate family members so that is why they prohibit the publishing of the home address and the telephone number of anyone who has requested protection so you're saying you have no idea if he's under Daniel's law yeah after I brought this up at a city council meeting to be clear I didn't publish anything I just brought it up at a city council meeting and then I received this letter here from the Police director telling me that I've got to knock it off or else face consequences well let's talk about the consequence sequences what are they so uh in New Jersey Daniel's law does allow for civil uh damages for an official to seek damages against the citizen but also criminal uh so now that I've received this notice unless the Judiciary does the right thing and intervenes here I'm actually restrained from publishing factual information about our Police director the ACLU has argued that your reporting is the core of protective free speech and in fact an unconstitutional attempt to prevent you from publishing any stories on his residency how can this you know why is this so important to the future of reporting on similar stories throughout the state for other reporters yeah I'm no lawyer but I do know that the case law in this matter is very strong there have been well-intentioned state laws over the years that seek to prevent the publication of certain information that legislators think is just too sensitive to be published but at every turn these things have been challenged and when they've ultimately made it to the higher courts they are struck down because publishing factual information is the right of a free press Charlie crowderville thank you for joining me thank you Raven [Music]