ASSEMBLY PASSES CARABALLO BILL TO STRENGTHEN HATE CRIME AND ANTI-BULLYING LAW

ASSEMBLY PASSES CARABALLO BILL TO STRENGTHEN HATE CRIME AND ANTI-BULLYING LAW
Measure Also Would Create a Commission on Bullying in Schools

(TRENTON) – The Assembly today passed legislation Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Wilfredo Caraballo sponsored to strengthen and expand New Jersey’s current laws against hate crimes and bullying.

“Acts of hatred or violence against a person – especially a child –cannot be tolerated in our state in this day and age,” said Caraballo (D-Newark). “These acts of personalized terrorism command a response that will be swift and sure.”

Caraballo’s measure (S-2975/A-4591) would substantially revise the current bias intimidation crime law, which encompasses hate crimes and bullying. Under the bill, bullying or hate crimes based on “gender identity or expression” and “national origin” would be specifically prohibited, more clearly defining the scope of existing law.

The measure would create additional penalties for the crime of bias intimidation, including: mandatory completion of a sensitivity training course; mandatory completion of a counseling  program designed to reduce violent and antisocial behavior; and mandatory payments or donation of services to local organizations that provide services to victims of bias intimidation.

The bill would add the crime of bias intimidation to the list of crimes to which the state Victims Crimes Compensation Agency (VCCA) may award payments or other compensation. The legislation also would require local and county police to include information about bias crimes in the quarterly crime reports filed with the state Office of the Attorney General. The Office of the Attorney General, in turn, would be required to maintain a central repository of information about bias crimes, which would be available to the public.

Under the bill, the Police Training Commission, in consultation with the New Jersey Human Relations Council, would be required to provide new police officers with two hours of training in identifying, responding to, and reporting bias intimidation crimes.

The legislation also would require each school district to post its bullying policy on the school’s web site and send annual copies of the policy to parents and guardians of all enrolled children.

Finally, the bill would establish a 13-member “Commission on Bullying in Schools,” which would be responsible for studying and reporting on the implementation and effectiveness of school bullying laws and regulations, the adequacy of legal remedies available to students of bullying, the legal protections available to teachers who comply with school bullying policies; the training of teachers and law enforcement personnel in responding to incidents of bullying, and the implementation of possible collaboration between the state Department of Education and the Division of Civil Rights to produce a statewide initiative against school bullying. The commission would be required to hold at least three meetings and report its finding to the Governor and the Legislature within nine months of its creation.

“We need to send a clear message to children at an early age that the only types of intolerance that should be acceptable is an intolerance of hatred,” said Caraballo. “once that message is established, we can go about  working to educate them to eliminate bias crimes once and for all.”

The bill passed 65 to 10 with five abstentions. It now heads to the Governor who may sign it, veto it, or modify it in the form of a conditional veto.

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