Bill > S607

Introduced Session

P.L.1997, c.60, known as "Joan's Law," provides that a person convicted of the murder of a child under the age of 14 must be sentenced to life imprisonment without eligibility for parole if the murder was committed in the course of the commission of a sex crime. This bill would raise the age limitation for "Joan's Law," encompassing murders under these situations where the victim was less than 18 years old. Thus, under the bill, a person convicted of the murder of a minor under the age of 18 must be sentenced to life imprisonment without eligibility for parole if the murder was committed in the course of the commission of a sex crime. Murder is a crime of the first degree and is generally punishable by a term of imprisonment of 30 years, during which the defendant is not eligible for parole, or by a specific term between 30 years and life imprisonment of which the defendant must serve 30 years before being eligible for parole. However, there are exceptions to this statutory scheme for certain murders. Defendants convicted of these particular murders must be sentenced to a term of life imprisonment without eligibility for parole. This bill's change to "Joan's Law," which is set out in paragraph (3) of subsection b. of N.J.S.2C:11-3, would not affect the mandatory life sentences imposed on persons convicted of these other murders, as set out in paragraphs (2) and (4) of that subsection. "Joan's Law" was prompted by the 1973 killing of Joan D'Alessandro, a 7-year-old in Hillsdale who had been selling Girl Scout cookies when her neighbor, Joseph McGowan, raped and murdered her.

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Committee Categories

Dawn Addiego (D)*,  Anthony Bucco (R)*,  Christopher Bateman (R),  Jim Beach (D),  Jennifer Beck (R),  Gerald Cardinale (R),  Jim Holzapfel (R),  Steven Oroho (R),  Shirley Turner (D), 

Substituted by A373 (1R) (on 06/22/2017)