Bill > S3021

Introduced Session

This bill prohibits persons, State and local agencies, and businesses from posting or publishing on the Internet the home addresses or unpublished home telephone numbers of active or retired judicial officers and State, county, or municipal prosecutors. Current law already prohibits disclosure of the home addresses or unpublished home telephone numbers of active or retired law enforcement officers. The bill adds active or retired judicial officers and active or retired prosecutors to the provisions of section 1 of P.L.2015, c.226 (C.2C:20-31.1). This statute currently makes it a crime to knowingly, with purpose to expose another to harassment or risk of harm to life or property, or in reckless disregard of the probability of this exposure, post or publish on the Internet the home address or unpublished telephone number of an active or retired law enforcement officer or the officer's spouse or child. A reckless violation of the statute is a crime of the fourth degree. A purposeful violation is a crime of the third degree. A crime of the fourth degree is punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 18 months, a fine of up to $10,000, or both; a crime of the third degree, by a term of three to five years, a fine of up to $15,000, or both. The bill also amends section 2 of P.L.2015, c.226 (C.47:1-17), which prohibits State or local agencies from knowingly posting or publishing on the Internet the home address or telephone number of an active or retired law enforcement officer without written permission, to add active or retired judicial officers and State, county, or municipal prosecutors. Currently, under subsection a. of section 3 of P.L.2015, c.226 (C.56:8-166.1), persons, businesses, and associations are prohibited from disclosing on the Internet the home address or unpublished home telephone number of an active or retired law enforcement officer under circumstances in which a reasonable person would believe that providing that information would expose another to harassment or risk of harm to life or property. This bill adds active or retired judicial officers and active or retired federal, State, county, or municipal prosecutors to the provisions of the statute. The bill also adds active or retired judicial officers and active or retired prosecutors to the provisions of subsection b. of section 3 of P.L.2015, c.226 (C.56:8-166.1), which currently authorizes a civil action for disclosing the home address or unpublished home telephone number of an active or retired law enforcement officer in violation of the provisions of subsection a. of the statute (as set forth above). Under subsection b. of the statute as amended by the bill, a person, business, or association that discloses this information under these circumstances is liable to the aggrieved person, who may bring a civil action in Superior Court. The statute provides that the court may award: (1) actual damages, but not less than liquidated damages computed at the rate of $1,000 for each violation; (2) punitive damages upon proof of willful or reckless disregard of the law; (3) reasonable attorney's fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred; and (4) any other preliminary and equitable relief as the court determines to be appropriate. In addition, the bill amends the law commonly known as the "open public records act" (OPRA). The bill excludes those portions of any document identifying a law enforcement officer's, judicial officer's, or prosecutor's address from the definition of "government record" pursuant to OPRA, and requires custodians of government records to redact a law enforcement officer's, judicial officer's, or prosecutor's address from any record prior to granting access to the record to a member of the public. Under the bill, an active or retired law enforcement officer, an active or retired federal, State, or municipal judicial officer, or an active or retired federal, State, county or municipal prosecutor whose home address or unpublished telephone number or whose immediate family member's name, home address or unpublished telephone number is disclosed on the Internet by any person, business, or association may request that the person, business, or association that disclosed that information refrain from such disclosure and remove that information from the Internet. A request to refrain from disclosure and remove information from the Internet under the bill would be required to be made in writing, addressed to the person, business, or association that disclosed the information, and may be made by the law enforcement officer, judicial officer, or prosecutor, as appropriate, or by the individual's employer with the consent of the individual. Upon receipt of the written request, the person, business, or association would have 72 hours to remove the information from the Internet and would be barred from disclosing the information to any other person, business, or association through any medium. The bill provides that a person whose home address or unpublished telephone number or whose immediate family member's name, home address or unpublished telephone number was not timely removed from the Internet or was disclosed subsequent to receipt of a request to refrain from disclosure and remove the information may bring an action seeking injunctive or declaratory relief in the Superior Court. If the court grants injunctive or declaratory relief, the person, business, or association responsible for the violation would be required to pay reasonable attorney's fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred by the law enforcement officer, judicial officer, or prosecutor, as appropriate. The bill defines "immediate family member" as including a spouse, child or parent of a law enforcement officer, a judicial officer, or a federal, State, county, or municipal prosecutor, or any blood relative of a law enforcement officer, a judicial officer or a prosecutor or of that individual's spouse who lives in the same residence as the law enforcement officer, judicial officer or prosecutor. The bill defines "disclose" as soliciting, selling, manufacturing, giving, providing, lending, trading, mailing, delivering, transferring, publishing, distributing, circulating, disseminating, presenting, exhibiting, advertising or offering. The bill defines "judicial officer" as the Chief Justice or an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, a judge of the United States Court of Appeals, a judge of a federal district court, including a magistrate judge, a judge of any other court established by federal law, the Chief Justice or an Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, a judge of the Superior Court, a judge of the Tax Court, a judge of a municipal court, a judge of the Office of Administrative Law, a judge of the Division of Workers' Compensation, or a judge of any other court or who handles proceedings in the executive branch of the State government or a local government established by State law. This bill is designated as "Daniel's law" in honor of the tragic killing of Daniel Anderl in July 2020. Daniel, the son of a United States District Court judge, was shot and killed in the family home by a person who had a fixation with the judge. The person had access to the judge because the judge's home address was public.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Tony Bucco (R)*,  Bob Singer (R)*,  Kristin Corrado (R),  Patrick Diegnan (D), 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee (on 10/19/2020)