ASSEMBLY, No. 2410
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
INTRODUCED OCTOBER 7, 1996
By Assemblymen BUCCO, GEIST, Carroll, Lance, Weingarten, Romano, Assemblywoman Quigley, Assemblymen Wisniewski, Caraballo, Assemblywoman Buono, Assemblymen Barnes, O'Toole, Green, Augustine, Blee, LeFevre, Zecker and Doria
An Act creating the offenses of solicitation of material support or resources in support of international terrorism and providing material support or resources for international terrorism and supplementing chapter 40 of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
"Charitable organization" means (1) any person determined by the federal Internal Revenue Service to be a tax exempt organization pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. s.501(c)(3); or (2) any person who is, or holds himself out to be, established for any benevolent, philanthropic, humane, social welfare, public health, or other eleemosynary purpose, or for the benefit of law enforcement personnel, firefighters or other persons who protect the public safety, or any person who in any manner employs a charitable appeal as the basis of any solicitation, or an appeal which has a tendency to suggest there is a charitable purpose to any such solicitation;
"Contribution" means material support or resources;
"International terrorism" means activities that involve a violent act, perpetrated by a private person or non-governmental entity, dangerous to human life that would be a crime of the second degree under the laws of the State if committed within the jurisdiction of the State, and occur outside the jurisdiction of the United States, and are intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, or affect the conduct of government by assassination or kidnaping;
"Independent paid fund raiser" means any person who for compensation performs for a charitable organization any service in connection with which contributions are, or will be solicited in this State by that compensated person or by any compensated person he employs, procures, or engages, directly or indirectly to solicit contributions. A bona fide salaried officer, employee, or volunteer of a charitable organization shall not be deemed to be an independent paid fund raiser. No attorney, accountant or banker who advises a person to make a charitable contribution during the course of rendering professional services to that person shall be deemed, as a result of that advice, to be an independent paid fund raiser.
"Material support or resources" means currency or other financial securities, financial services, lodging, training, safehouses, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel, transportation, and other physical assets;
"Solicitation" or "solicit" means the request, directly or indirectly, for money, credit, property, financial assistance, or other thing of any kind or value which will be used for a charitable purpose or benefit a charitable organization. Solicitation shall include, but not be limited to, the following methods of requesting or securing money, credit, property, financial assistance or other thing of value:
(1) Any oral or written request;
(2) The making of any announcement in the press, over the radio or television, by telephone, through the mail or any other media concerning an appeal or campaign by or for any charitable organization or purpose;
(3) The distribution, circulation, posting or publishing of any handbill, written advertisement or other publication which directly or by implication seeks to obtain a contribution;
(4) The offer of, attempt to sell, or sale of any advertising space, book, card, tag, coupon, device, magazine, membership, merchandise, subscription, flower, ticket, candy, cookies or other tangible item in connection with which any appeal is made for any charitable organization or purpose, or where the name of any charitable organization is used or referred to in any appeal as an inducement or reason for making any sale, or where any statement is made that the whole or any part of the proceeds from the sale will be used for any charitable purpose or benefit any charitable organization;
(5) The use or employment of canisters, cards, receptacles or similar devices for the collection of money or other thing of value in connection with which any appeal is made for any charitable organization or purpose.
A solicitation shall take place whether or not the person making the solicitation receives any contribution, except that a charitable organization's use of its own name in any communication shall not alone be sufficient to constitute a solicitation.
"Solicitor" means any individual who attempts to solicit or solicits contributions, for compensation, and who is subject to the control of an independent paid fund raiser. The term "control" means the direct management, direction and supervision of performance of a solicitor's activities in connection with the solicitation of contributions by the independent fund raiser.
2. a. A person, charitable organization, independent paid fund raiser, or solicitor who raises, solicits, or collects material support or resources intending that such material support or resources will be used, in whole or in part, to plan, prepare, carry out, or escape from an act of international terrorism is guilty of committing solicitation of material support or resources, a crime of the second degree, except that nothing shall be deemed to preclude a charge for a greater crime under any other provision of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.
b. A person who provides material support or resources to a person or an organization, intending that the material support or resources will be used, in whole or in part, to plan, prepare, carry out, or escape from an act of international terrorism is guilty of committing providing material support or resources for international terrorism, a crime of the second degree, except that nothing shall be deemed to preclude a charge for a greater crime under any other provision of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.
3. a. An investigation of a person believed to have committed a crime as defined in section 2 of this act shall be initiated or continued under this act only when the facts reasonably indicate that the person knowingly or intentionally engages or has engaged in the violation of this or any other criminal law of this State.
b. An investigation shall not be initiated or continued under this section based on activities protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, including expressions of support for the nonviolent political, religious, philosophical, or ideological goals or beliefs of any person or group.
4. The Attorney General shall revoke any registration granted under the "Charitable Registration and Investigation Act," P.L. 1994, c. 16 (C. 45:17A-18 et seq.), to any person found guilty of violating the provisions of this act.
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
The bill would create the offenses of solicitation of material support or resources in support of international terrorism and providing material support or resources for international terrorism. This bill, if enacted into law, would make New Jersey the second state in the nation to enact legislation that outlaws the provision or solicitation of material support or resources to any group that is linked to international terrorism.
This bill would prohibit a person from raising, soliciting or collecting material support or resources or providing material support or resources to a person or organization intending that the material support or resources shall be used to plan, prepare, carry out, or escape from acts of international terrorism. Under the provisions of the bill, a person found guilty of either offense would be guilty of a crime of the second degree.
Creates new offenses of solicitation of material support or resources in support of international terrorism and providing material support or resources for international terrorism.