ACLU Has Facts Wrong in Lawsuit, State Police Say

New Jersey state police say the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union was mistaken when it sued over a rule banning political pins and buttons from the State House.

State Police say there is no such rule.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit Monday saying the state wrongly denied an open-records request for the regulation. The group had already filed a suit aimed at stopping the policy itself.

But State Police Lt. Stephen Jones says political pins and buttons are allowed in the capital building and that the 1997 rules covering the use of State House grounds are public.

A lawyer working with the ACLU says it appears it took a lawsuit for the State Police to disclose this policy. Janie Byalik says the suit will continue.

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