ACLU suing Newark over transparency in Facebook founder's $100M donation to city schools
Published: Tuesday, August 23, 2011, 1:32 PM Updated: Tuesday, August 23, 2011, 1:32 PM
Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Gov. Chris Christie and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in this file photo. The state ACLU has announced it is suing Newark for transparency over Facebook fouder Mark Zuckerberg's $100M donation to the city schools.NEWARK — A battle over transparency surrounding Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's $100 million donation to Newark schools will now be decided in court.
In a motion filed just after noon today in Superior Court of Newark, the ACLU of New Jersey announced it is suing Newark, accusing the city of violating numerous OPRA regulations and demanding the release of all correspondence between Zuckerberg, Booker, Gov. Chris Christie, and Acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf surrounding the September 2010 donation.
The Secondary Parent Council, a 30-year old parent and grandparent advocacy group in Newark, filed an Open Public Records request on April 5, requesting all letters, emails and memos between Booker, Zuckerberg and Christie regarding the donation and its potential uses. The two-page request also lists almost every government official who could have weighed in
