SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 2166

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: DECEMBER 16, 1996

      The Senate Judiciary Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 2166.

      This bill would classify arson where the target of the crime was a church, synagogue, temple or other place of worship as a crime of the first degree. The bill would also provide that the sentence of any person convicted of an arson involving a house of worship must include a mandatory, minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years during which the person would be ineligible for parole.