SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

SENATE, No. 1373

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED: DECEMBER 16, 1996

 

      The Senate Judiciary Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 1373.

      As amended by the committee, 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.