LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 4833

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

219th LEGISLATURE

 

DATED: MARCH 3, 2021

 

 

SUMMARY

 

Synopsis:

Expands crime of bias intimidation; establishes additional penalties for crimes of bias intimidation, harassment, and cyber-harassment; establishes bias intimidation motivation damages.

Type of Impact:

Annual expenditure and revenue increases to the State and municipalities.

Agencies Affected:

Department of Law and Public Safety; Department of Corrections; the Judiciary; Office of the Public Defender; Municipalities; Counties.

 

 

Office of Legislative Services Estimate

Fiscal Impact

Year 1 

Year 2 

Year 3 

 

State Cost Increase

 

Indeterminate

 

 

State Revenue Increase

 

Indeterminate

 

 

Local Cost Increase

 

Indeterminate

 

 

Local Revenue Increase

 

Indeterminate

 

 

 

 

 

·         The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) anticipates that the State, county prosecutor’s offices, local law enforcement agencies, and municipal courts will incur indeterminate additional annual operating expenses from enforcing, prosecuting, and trying the offenses established and expanded by the bill, and incarcerating any offenders. The State and municipal governments also may receive indeterminate additional annual revenue from increased fines and penalties imposed on and collected from individuals convicted of the offenses established by this bill.

 

·         For a person convicted of initiating a false public alarm, the bill provides for an increased award of a civil penalty of not less than $2,000 or treble the actual costs incurred, whichever is higher. The civil penalties are likely to boost municipal revenues by an indeterminate amount.


 

BILL DESCRIPTION

 

      The bill expands the State’s bias intimidation law; establishes additional penalties for the crimes of bias intimidation, harassment, and cyber-harassment; and provides for the award of bias intimidation motivation damages.

Bias Intimidation        

      Among other provisions, the bill imposes additional penalties for a conviction of bias intimidation, for each offense, in the amount of:  $2,000 for a crime of the first degree; $1,000 for a crime of the second degree; $750 for a crime of the third degree; $500 for a crime of the fourth degree; and $250 for a disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons offense.  These penalties are to be deposited into the Bias Crime Prevention Fund, established under the bill.  The monies deposited are to be used for investigating and prosecuting bias intimidation crimes; supporting community response to bias crime incidents; funding training and educational programs on bias crimes and diversity, as well as other programs designed to enhance public awareness of bias crimes and diversity.

False Public Alarm

      Under current law, a person convicted of initiating a false public alarm is liable to a civil penalty of not less than $2,000 or the actual costs resulting from law enforcement and emergency services in response to the false alarm, whichever is higher.  The bill provides for the award of a civil penalty of not less than $2,000 or treble the actual costs incurred, whichever is higher.  The bill further provides that a person convicted of initiating a false alarm also is liable to a person suffering personal injury, and to the owner of property damaged as a result of law enforcement and emergency services response to the false alarm.

Cyber-Harassment

      The provisions of the bill expand the crime of cyber-harassment to provide that a person commits a third degree crime if the person knowingly discloses personal identifying information of another person with the intent to expose that person or another to harassment or risk of harm to life or property or in reckless disregard of the probability of the exposure.  A crime of the third degree is punishable by a term of imprisonment of three to five years, a fine of up to $15,000, or both.

Bias Intimidation Motivation Compensatory Damages Enhancement

      The bill also provides for an award of bias intimidation motivation compensatory damages enhancement. The bill defines “bias intimidation motivation” to mean with a purpose to intimidate an individual or group of individuals because of race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, national origin, or ethnicity, or knowing that the conduct constituting the offense would cause an individual or group of individuals to be intimidated because of race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity.

      The bill provides that, in addition to any other recovery authorized under current law, treble the amount of compensatory damages is to be awarded to a plaintiff if the plaintiff proves, by a preponderance of evidence, that the harm suffered was the result of the defendant’s acts or omissions, and the acts or omissions were actuated by bias intimidation motivation. 

 

 

FISCAL ANALYSIS

 

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

 

      None received.

OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES

     

      The OLS anticipates that the State, county prosecutor’s offices, local law enforcement agencies, and municipal courts will incur indeterminate additional annual operating expenses from enforcing, prosecuting, and trying the offenses expanded under the bill, and incarcerating any offenders. The State and municipal governments also may receive indeterminate additional annual revenue from increased fines and penalties imposed on and collected from individuals for certain offenses under the provisions of this bill.

      The OLS, however, lacks sufficient information to quantify the bill’s fiscal impact. It is unclear how many persons would be prosecuted, tried, and sentenced under the provisions of this bill.

      Expenditure Increases: The OLS estimates that the bill will produce indeterminate annual expenditure increases to the State, counties, and municipalities; however, the OLS has no information on the additional workload and cost that the expansion of the bias intimidation law may impose on the affected State departments.

      The bill is estimated to increase State operating expenditures if: a) the Department of Law and Public Safety enforces, and prosecutes violators of, the expanded bias intimidation law; b) the Judiciary adjudicates additional bias intimidation criminal cases; c) the Office of the Public Defender provides legal representation to low-income criminal defendants who are charged with having violated the expanded bias intimidation law; and d) the Department of Corrections (DOC) houses and cares for individuals sentenced to certain prison terms.

      For instance, the provisions of the bill expand the crime of cyber-harassment to provide that a person commits a third degree crime if the person knowingly discloses personal identifying information of another person with the intent to expose that person or another to harassment or risk of harm to life or property. Crimes of the third degree are punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to three to five years, a fine of up to $15,000, or both. A presumption of non-incarceration applies to first-time offenders of crimes of the third and fourth degree, and disorderly persons cases. Repeat offenders, however, could be incarcerated. The OLS notes that to the extent that the bill will result in additional incarcerations, the DOC indicated that the average annual cost of housing an inmate in a State prison for FY 2019 totaled $50,191, whereas the marginal costs per day were approximately $8.60.

      The OLS, however, cannot project the number of future prosecutions, trials, and incarcerations related to the crimes under this bill. Any additional State cost from this bill may be offset, in part, by criminal fines and penalties imposed by the courts on persons convicted of having violated the expanded law; however, the State’s ability to collect criminal fines and penalties has historically been limited.

      Revenue Gains: Additional indeterminate annual State and municipal revenue will accrue from fine and penalty payments from convicted violators. The bill imposes additional penalties for a conviction of bias intimidation, for each offense, in the amount of:  $2,000 for a crime of the first degree; $1,000 for a crime of the second degree; $750 for a crime of the third degree; $500 for a crime of the fourth degree; and $250 for a disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons offense.

      Furthermore, under current law, a person convicted of initiating a false public alarm is liable to a civil penalty of not less than $2,000 or the actual costs resulting from law enforcement and emergency services in response to the false alarm, whichever is higher.  The bill provides for the award of a civil penalty of not less than $2,000 or treble the actual costs incurred, whichever is higher. The civil penalties are likely to boost municipal revenues by an indeterminate amount.

Section:

Judiciary

Analyst:

Anuja Pande Joshi

Assistant Fiscal Analyst

Approved:

Thomas Koenig

Legislative Budget and Finance Officer

 

This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.

 

This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).