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.