Bill > A1317

Introduced Session

This bill requires the Administrative Office of the Courts in conjunction with the State Police and the Attorney General to develop and maintain a system to make certain domestic violence registry information publicly available over the Internet. Under the bill, the public would be able to gain access through the Internet to all available information concerning an individual record, any part of, or the entire domestic violence Internet registry concerning all persons who have had domestic violence restraining orders entered against them for aggravated assault. In the case of a person convicted of homicide, sexual assault or aggravated assault involving domestic violence the public may, without limitation, obtain access to the domestic violence Internet registry to view an individual record, any part of, or the entire domestic violence Internet registry including: the defendant's name and any aliases the defendant has used or under which the defendant may be or may have been known; any aggravated assault offense involving domestic violence for which the defendant was convicted; the date and location of disposition; a brief description of any such offense, a general description of the defendant's modus operandi, if any; the defendant's age, race, sex, date of birth, height, weight, hair, eye color and any distinguishing scars or tattoos; a photograph of the defendant and the date on which the photograph was entered into the registry; the make, model, color, year and license plate number of any vehicle operated by the defendant; and the street address, zip code, municipality and county in which the defendant resides. The bill requires the Attorney General to ensure that the publicly accessing the domestic violence Internet registry contains (1) warnings that any person who uses the information to threaten, intimidate or harass another, or who misuses the information may be criminally prosecuted, and (2) an explanation of the registry's limitations. The Attorney General is further required to strive to ensure that the information contained in the Internet registry is accurate, and that the registry is revised and updated as appropriate in a timely and efficient manner. The bill also provides that no action is to be brought against any person for failure to investigate or disclose any information from the registry that is compiled or made available to the public through the domestic violence Internet registry. The bill provides that any information disclosed from the domestic violence Internet registry may be used in any manner by any person or by any public, governmental or private entity, organization or official, or any agent thereof, for any lawful purpose consistent with the enhancement of public safety. A person who uses that information to commit a crime is guilty of a crime of the third degree. A person who uses that information to commit a disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons offense is guilty of a disorderly persons offense and would be fined at least $500 but not more than $1,000, in addition to the other applicable penalties. Whenever there is reasonable cause to believe that any person or group of persons is engaged in a pattern or practice of misuse of the information disclosed pursuant to the bill, the Attorney General, or any county or municipal prosecutor having jurisdiction, or any person aggrieved by the misuse of that information is authorized to bring a civil action in the appropriate court requesting preventive relief, including an application for a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order against any person responsible for the pattern or practice of misuse. These remedies would be independent of and in addition to any other remedies or procedures that may be available under other provisions of law.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Reed Gusciora (D)*,  Amy Handlin (R)*,  Gabriela Mosquera (D)*,  Annette Quijano (D)*,  Ralph Caputo (D),  Thomas Giblin (D),  Pam Lampitt (D),  Raj Mukherji (D), 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Women and Children Committee (on 01/09/2018)