Legal Challenge to New Jersey’s Daniel’s Law Heads to 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals

Mar 20, 2025

Newark, N.J. – March 20, 2025 – Greenspoon Marder LLP litigation partner Kelly Purcaro and senior counsel Kory Ann Ferro represent companies in seven of the dozens of lawsuits recently accepted for consolidated review by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. The cases, now on an expedited track, challenge the constitutionality of the recently amended New Jersey’s Daniel’s Law. This law as amended, which was intended to restrict the disclosure of home addresses and unpublished phone numbers of certain public officials, is under review. While the well-intentioned law serves a noble goal, recent amendments that led to the proliferation of litigation are now headed for the 3rd Circuit. Among other things, the revised law allows for the assignment of claims to 3rd parties and imposes liability without expressly requiring a culpable mental state. The appeal is set to challenge these and related aspects of the “as amended” law which raise critical First Amendment and additional Constitutional concerns.

The appeal, involving 37 cases initiated by a company, which purports to be the assignee of claims for over 19,600 unidentified individuals and along with a few named individuals, carries potential damages in the hundreds of millions of dollars against companies of various sizes and industries throughout the country. The district court previously found Daniel’s Law to be a content-based restriction on non-commercial speech. However, it denied the motion to dismiss based on constitutional challenges, creating a privacy exception to strict scrutiny and reading a negligence requirement into the statute. The district court certified the order for immediate appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b), and the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has accepted the appeal petition. Opening appellate briefs are due on April 14, 2025.

The consolidated appeal is brought on behalf of dozens of companies nationwide, many of whom found themselves named as defendants among the 150 or so lawsuits filed early last year – all by the same “assignee.” Ms. Purcaro and Ms. Ferro represent several defendants in the Federal District Court and on this appeal.

“This case is pivotal in terms of statutory construction, privacy rights, and fundamental freedoms enshrined in the First Amendment. The outcome will have far-reaching implications,” said Ms. Purcaro.

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Legal Challenge to New Jersey’s Daniel’s Law Heads to 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals

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