Bill Text: NJ A1658 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes the "Office of the Gang Member Relocation Coordinator."
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-01-16 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee [A1658 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-A1658-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
216th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2014 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GORDON M. JOHNSON
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes the "Office of the Gang Member Relocation Coordinator."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning criminal street gangs, supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes and amending various parts of the statutory law.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) There is created within the Department of Law and Public Safety the Office of the Gang Member Relocation Coordinator. The coordinator shall be responsible for establishing, implementing, and maintaining a relocation program which shall assist in providing alternate living arrangements to juveniles threatened with gang violence.
2. (New section) A juvenile shall be eligible for participation in the relocation program if that juvenile has been physically injured or is threatened with physical injury by a criminal street gang as defined in subsection a. of section 1 of P.L.2007, c.341 (C.2C:33-29) because the juvenile has refused to join a gang or has attempted to withdraw from gang affiliation. In determining a juvenile's eligibility for participation in the relocation program, the coordinator shall, to the extent practicable, obtain information relating to the suitability of the juvenile for inclusion in the program, including but not limited to the criminal history, family background, former gang affiliation, and psychological evaluation of the juvenile.
3. (New section) In implementing the relocation program the coordinator shall, when agreed to by the parent or guardian and eligible juvenile, assist in providing alternate living arrangements for the juvenile with a relative, neighbor, or other suitable family setting. Prior to relocating the juvenile, the coordinator shall perform a thorough investigation of the potential alternative living arrangement in order to determine that it is located at a sufficient distance from the threat of gang violence.
4. (New section) There is created in the Department of Law and Public Safety a nonlapsing fund to be known as the "Juvenile Gang Member Relocation" fund. The coordinator shall solicit and accept grants from the federal government and from other public and private sources which shall be deposited in the fund. The relocation program shall be funded exclusively by moneys deposited in the fund, and any interest earned thereon.
5. Section 1 of P.L.1999, c.160 (C.2C:33-28) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. An actor who solicits or recruits another to join or actively participate in a criminal street gang with the knowledge or purpose that the person who is solicited or recruited will promote, further, assist, plan, aid, agree, or attempt to aid in the commission of criminal conduct by a member of a criminal street gang commits a crime of the fourth degree. For purposes of this section, the actor shall have the requisite knowledge or purpose if he knows that the person who is solicited or recruited will engage in some form, though not necessarily which form, of criminal activity. "Criminal street gang" shall have the meaning set forth in [subsection h. of N.J.S.2C:44-3] subsection a. of section 1 of P.L.2007, c.341 (C.2C:33-29).
b. An actor who, in the course of violating subsection a. of this section, threatens another with bodily injury on two or more separate occasions within a 30-day period commits a crime of the third degree.
c. An actor who, in the course of violating subsection a. of this section, inflicts significant bodily injury upon another commits a crime of the second degree.
d. Any defendant convicted of soliciting, recruiting, coercing or threatening a person under 18 years of age in violation of subsection a. or b. of this section shall be guilty of a crime of the second degree.
e. An actor who violates subsection a. of this section while under official detention commits a crime of the second degree. As used in this subsection, "official detention" means detention in any facility for custody of persons under charge or conviction of a crime or offense, or committed pursuant to chapter 4 of this Title, or alleged or found to be delinquent; detention for extradition or deportation; mandatory commitment to a residential treatment facility imposed as a condition of special probation pursuant to subsection d. of N.J.S.2C:35-14; or any other detention for law enforcement purposes. "Official detention" also includes supervision of probation or parole, or constraint incidental to release on bail. Notwithstanding the provisions of N.J.S.2C:44-5 or any other provision of law, the court shall order that the sentence imposed upon a violation of this section be served consecutively to the period or periods of detention the actor was serving at the time of the violation.
f. Any defendant convicted of soliciting, recruiting, coercing or threatening a person under 18 years of age in violation of subsection c. or e. of this section shall be sentenced by the court to an extended term of imprisonment as set forth in subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:43-7.
Notwithstanding the provisions of N.J.S.2C:1-8, N.J.S.2C:44-5 or any other provision of law, a conviction arising under this section shall not merge with a conviction for any criminal offense that the actor committed while involved in criminal street gang related activity, as defined in [subsection h. of N.J.S.2C:44-3] subsection a. of section 1 of P.L.2007, c.341 (C.2C:33-29), nor shall the conviction for any such offense merge with a conviction pursuant to this section and the sentence imposed upon a violation of this section shall be ordered to be served consecutively to that imposed upon any other such conviction.
(cf: P.L.2007, c.234, s.1)
6. N.J.S.2C:35A-3 is amended to read as follows:
2C:35A-3. Criteria for imposition of anti-drug profiteering penalty.
a. In addition to any other disposition authorized by this title, including but not limited to any fines which may be imposed pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.2C:43-3 and except as may be provided by section 5 of this chapter, where a person has been convicted of a crime defined in chapter 35 or 36 of this Title or any crime involving criminal street gang related activity as defined in [subsection h. of N.J.S.2C:44-3] subsection a. of section 1 of P.L.2007, c.341 (C.2C:33-29) or an attempt or conspiracy to commit such a crime, the court shall, upon the application of the prosecutor, sentence the person to pay a monetary penalty in an amount determined pursuant to section 4 of this chapter, provided the court finds at a hearing, which may occur at the time of sentencing, that the prosecutor has established by a preponderance of the evidence one or more of the grounds specified in this section. The findings of the court shall be incorporated in the record, and in making its findings, the court shall take judicial notice of any evidence, testimony or information adduced at the trial, plea hearing or other court proceedings and shall also consider the presentence report and any other relevant information.
b. Any of the following shall constitute grounds for imposing an Anti-Drug Profiteering Penalty:
(1) The defendant was convicted of: (a) a violation of N.J.S.2C:35-3 (leader of narcotics trafficking network), or (b) a violation of subsection g. of N.J.S.2C:5-2 (leader of organized crime), or (c) an offense defined in chapter 41 of this Title (racketeering) which involved the manufacture, distribution, possession with intent to distribute or transportation of any controlled dangerous substance or controlled substance analog.
(2) The defendant is a drug profiteer. A defendant is a drug profiteer when the conduct constituting the crime shows that the person has knowingly engaged in the illegal manufacture, distribution or transportation of any controlled dangerous substance, controlled substance analog or drug paraphernalia as a substantial source of livelihood. In making its determination, the court may consider all of the attending circumstances, including but not limited to the defendant's role in the criminal activity, the nature, amount and purity of the substance involved, the amount of cash or currency involved, the extent and accumulation of the defendant's assets during the course of the criminal activity and the defendant's net worth and his expenditures in relation to his legitimate sources of income.
(3) The defendant is a wholesale drug distributor. (a) A defendant is a wholesale drug distributor when the conduct constituting the crime involves the manufacture, distribution or intended or attempted distribution of a controlled dangerous substance or controlled substance analog to any other person for pecuniary gain, knowing, believing, or under circumstances where it reasonably could be assumed that such other person would in turn distribute the substance to another or others for pecuniary gain. It shall not be necessary for the prosecution to establish to whom the substance was distributed or intended or attempted to be distributed, and the court may draw all reasonable inferences from the nature of the defendant's conduct and the substance involved that such other person, while not specifically identified, would in turn distribute the substance to another or others for pecuniary gain. In making its determination, the court shall consider all of the attending circumstances, including but not limited to the defendant's role in the criminal activity, the nature, amount and purity of the substance involved, and the likelihood that a substance of such purity would be intended to be distributed directly to the ultimate consumer of the substance.
(b) Notwithstanding that the prosecutor has established that the defendant is a wholesale drug distributor within the meaning of this paragraph, the court shall not impose an anti-drug profiteering penalty on that ground if the defendant establishes by a preponderance of the evidence at the hearing that his participation in the conduct constituting the crime was limited solely to operating a conveyance used to transport a controlled dangerous substance or controlled substance analog, or loading or unloading the substance into such a conveyance or storage facility. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to establish a basis for not imposing a penalty where the prosecutor has established any other ground or grounds specified in this section for the imposition of an anti-drug profiteering penalty.
(4) The defendant is a professional drug distributor. A professional drug distributor is a person who has at any time, for pecuniary gain, unlawfully distributed a controlled dangerous substance, controlled substance analog or drug paraphernalia to three or more different persons, or on five or more separate occasions regardless of the number of persons to whom the substance or paraphernalia was distributed.
(5) The defendant was involved in criminal street gang related activity.
c. In making its determination, the court may rely upon expert opinion in the form of live testimony or by affidavit, or by such other means as the court deems appropriate.
d. For the purposes of this chapter, an act is undertaken for pecuniary gain if it involves or contemplates the transfer of anything of value in exchange for a controlled dangerous substance, controlled substance analog or drug paraphernalia, provided that the thing of value received or intended to be received in exchange for the substance or paraphernalia is or was reasonably believed to be of a higher value than that expended by the defendant or by any other person with whom the actor is acting in concert, to acquire or manufacture the substance or paraphernalia. It shall also include any act which would constitute a violation of subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:35-5, N.J.S.2C:35-11, N.J.S.2C:36-3 or any other crime for which the actor was paid or expected to be paid in return for performing such act, or from which the actor received a benefit for himself or another or injured another or deprived another of a benefit. There shall be a rebuttable presumption at the hearing that any manufacturing, distribution or possession with intent to distribute which contemplates or involves the payment or exchange of anything of value constitutes an act undertaken for pecuniary gain. It shall not be necessary for the prosecution to establish that any intended profit or payment was actually received; nor shall it be relevant that the act, payment in return for such act or the transfer of anything of value in exchange for the substance or paraphernalia, occurred or was intended to occur in another jurisdiction.
(cf: P.L.1999, c.160, s.2)
7. Section 2 of P.L.2005, c.332 (C.53:1-15.1) is amended to read as follows:
2. a. Upon the arrest of any person for a crime or offense for which fingerprinting is required, the arresting officer shall designate whether the crime or offense was related to criminal street gang activity on the form used for the collection of fingerprints pursuant to R.S.53:1-15. For the purposes of this section, a crime is related to criminal street gang activity if the crime was committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal street gang as defined in [subsection h. of N.J.S.2C:44-3] subsection a. of section 1 of P.L.2007, c.341 (C.2C:33-29).
b. The form used for the collection of fingerprints pursuant to R.S.53:1-15 shall include a place for the arresting officer to
designate whether the crime or offense was related to criminal street gang activity.
(cf: P.L.2005, c.332, s.2)
8. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month following enactment, but the Attorney General may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill creates the Office of the Gang Member Relocation Coordinator. Under the bill, the coordinator would be responsible for the creation of a relocation program for juveniles who have been physically injured, or threatened with physical injury, by a criminal street gang because they have refused to join a gang or have attempted to withdraw from gang affiliation.
The coordinator would fund the program by soliciting and accepting grants from the federal government as well as other public and private sources. The coordinator would then use the funding to assist in providing alternative living arrangements for the juvenile with a relative, neighbor, or other suitable family setting.
Additionally, under the provisions of the bill, the coordinator's responsibilities would be, in part, investigatory. The coordinator would be responsible for performing an investigation of the potential alternative living arrangement for the juvenile to determine that it is a suitable environment. The coordinator also would be required to determine the juvenile's eligibility for participation in the relocation program.
Finally, the bill amends various sections of the law to update the statutory citation for the definition of a "criminal street gang."
