A5555

An Act concerning the financing of riots and violent disorderly conduct, and supplementing chapter 33 of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Conspiracy to Fund Criminal Activities Act.”

2. Financing Riot or Violent Disorderly Conduct.

a. A person shall be guilty of financing riot or violent disorderly conduct if the person knowingly provides, solicits, transfers, directs, arranges, or otherwise supplies funds, financial assistance, assets, or material financial support for the purpose of facilitating, promoting, organizing, or enabling conduct constituting a riot pursuant to N.J.S.2C:33-1 or disorderly conduct pursuant to N.J.S.2C:33-2.

b. Financing riot or violent disorderly conduct shall be a crime of the third degree; except that the offense shall be a crime of the second degree if:

(1) the riot or violent disorderly conduct results in bodily injury to another person;

(2) the riot or violent disorderly conduct results in property damage exceeding $25,000 in the aggregate; or

(3) the defendant provided financial support in excess of $10,000 for the prohibited conduct.

c. (1) A person may be convicted under this section regardless of whether the person was physically present at the location of the riot or violent disorderly conduct.

(2) For purposes of this section, conduct constituting financing riot or violent disorderly conduct may constitute an agreement to promote or facilitate criminal conduct within the meaning of the conspiracy provisions set forth in N.J.S.2C:5-2.

(3) Evidence that a group, organization, association, or coordinated entity receiving financial support previously engaged in documented acts of riot, violent disorderly conduct, criminal property destruction, or other violent criminal activity, and that such information was known to or reasonably available to the defendant, shall be admissible for the limited purpose of establishing the defendant's knowledge, purpose, intent, or absence of mistake.

(4) An officer, director, manager, trustee, partner, member of a governing body, or other person exercising substantial control over an organization shall be subject to prosecution under this section when organizational funds are knowingly authorized, approved, directed, or utilized to facilitate conduct constituting a riot or violent disorderly conduct.

3. Registration and disclosure requirements.

a. An organization that provides bail assistance, bond payments, legal defense funding, legal representation funding, or other financial support on behalf of a person arrested in connection with a riot or violent disorderly conduct shall register with the Department of Law and Public Safety within 48 hours after providing such support. The Department of Law and Public Safety shall, in coordination with the Administrative Office of the Courts and prosecutors, file a copy of such registrations into the case docket of every person arrested in connection with the riot or violent disorderly conduct .

b. The registration required pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall include:

(1) the identity of the organization providing the support;

(2) the amount and nature of the support provided;

(3) the identity of principal funding sources whose contributions were used to provide the support; and

(4) a certification that the organization did not knowingly provide support for the purpose of facilitating, encouraging, promoting, or assisting violent criminal conduct, in violation of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) or any other statute of chapter 33 of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.

c. (1) A person who knowingly fails to register as required pursuant to this section shall be guilty of a disorderly persons offense. A second or subsequent violation of this paragraph shall constitute a crime of the fourth degree.

(2) A person who knowingly files a materially false registration or certification pursuant to this section shall be guilty of a crime of the fourth degree.

4. Asset restraint.

a. Upon application by the Attorney General or a county prosecutor, the Superior Court may issue an emergency order freezing the assets of an individual or organization upon a showing of probable cause that:

(1) the individual or organization provided material financial support in violation of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill); and

(2) absent such relief, the assets are likely to be transferred, concealed, dissipated, or otherwise rendered unavailable for the payment of fines, restitution, forfeiture, or other judgments authorized by law.

b. Any order issued pursuant to this section shall be temporary and subject to prompt judicial review.

c. A hearing shall be conducted no later than 10 days following issuance of the order unless extended by the court for good cause shown.

d. Proceedings pursuant to this section shall, to the extent practicable, be governed by the procedures applicable to forfeiture actions under New Jersey law.

5. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes the “Conspiracy to Fund Criminal Activities Act.” The bill establishes criminal penalties for knowingly providing financial support to facilitate riots or violent disorderly conduct, imposes disclosure requirements on organizations providing certain forms of support to individuals arrested in connection with such activities, and authorizes the temporary restraint of assets connected to violations of the bill.

Under the bill, a person commits the offense of financing riot or violent disorderly conduct if the person knowingly provides, solicits, transfers, directs, arranges, or otherwise supplies funds, financial assistance, assets, or material financial support for the purpose of facilitating, promoting, organizing, or enabling conduct constituting a riot pursuant to N.J.S.A.2C:33-1 or disorderly conduct pursuant to N.J.S.A.2C:33-2. A person may be convicted of the offense regardless of whether the person was physically present at the location of the riot or violent disorderly conduct .

Under the bill, financing riot or violent civil disorder is generally graded as a crime of the third degree. The offense is upgraded to a crime of the second degree if the riot results in bodily injury to another person, results in aggregate property damage exceeding $25,000, or if the defendant provided more than $10,000 in financial support for the prohibited conduct. A crime of the second degree is punishable by five to ten years of imprisonment, a fine of up to $150,000, or both. A crime of the third degree is punishable by three to five years of imprisonment, a fine of up to $15,000 or both.

The bill provides that conduct constituting financing riot or violent disorderly conduct may constitute an agreement to promote or facilitate criminal conduct within the meaning of New Jersey’s conspiracy statute, N.J.S.A.2C:5-2. The bill further provides that evidence of a recipient organization's prior documented involvement in riots, violent disorderly conduct, criminal property destruction, or other violent criminal activity may be admitted for the limited purpose of establishing a defendant's knowledge, purpose, intent, or absence of mistake when the information was known to or reasonably available to the defendant.

The bill further requires any organization that provides bail assistance, bond payments, legal defense funding, legal representation funding, or other financial support on behalf of a person arrested in connection with a riot or violent disorderly conduct to register with the Department of Law and Public Safety within 48 hours of providing such support. A person who knowingly fails to comply with the registration requirements is guilty of a disorderly persons offense. A second or subsequent failure to register constitutes a crime of the fourth degree. A person who knowingly files a materially false registration or certification pursuant to this section shall be guilty of a crime of the fourth degree.

A crime of the fourth degree is punishable by imprisonment for up to 18 months, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. A disorderly persons offense is punishable by imprisonment for up to six months, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. A petty disorderly persons offense is punishable by imprisonment for up to 30 days, a fine of up to $500, or both.

Finally, the bill authorizes the Attorney General or a county prosector to apply to the Superior Court for an emergency order freezing the assets of an individual or organization upon a showing of probable cause that the individual or organization provided material financial support in violation of the bill and that the assets are likely to be transferred, concealed, dissipated, or otherwise rendered unavailable for the payment of fines, restitution, forfeiture, or other judgments authorized by law.