SENATE, No. 1778
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
INTRODUCED JANUARY 14, 1997
By Senators MATHEUSSEN and SCOTT
An Act concerning the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center and supplementing chapter 47 of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this act, "sexually oriented material" means any description, narrative account, display, or depiction of sexual activity or associated anatomical area contained in, or consisting of, a picture or other representation, publication, sound recording, live performance, or film.
b. An inmate sentenced to a period of confinement in the Adult Diagnostic Treatment Center shall not receive, possess, distribute or exhibit within the center sexually oriented material, as defined in subsection a. of this section. Upon the discovery of any such material within the center, the commissioner shall provide for its removal and destruction, subject to a departmental appeal procedure for the withholding or removal of such material from the inmate's possession.
c. The commissioner shall request an inmate sentenced to confinement in the center to acknowledge in writing the requirements of this act prior to the enforcement of its provisions. Any inmate who violates the provisions of subsection b. of this section shall be subject to on-the-spot sanctions pursuant to rules and regulations adopted by the commissioner.
d. A person who sells or offers for sale the material prohibited in subsection b. either for purposes of possession or viewing or who receives, possesses, distributes or exhibits any text, photograph, film, video or any other reproduction or reconstruction which depicts a person under 18 years of age engaging in a prohibited sexual act or in the simulation of such an act as defined in section 2 of P.L.1992, c.7 (C.2A:30B-2), within the center shall be considered to have committed an inmate prohibited act and be subject to sanctions pursuant to rules and regulations adopted by the commissioner.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fifth month after enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill prohibits the receipt, distribution and exhibition of "sexually oriented material" in the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center, the State's correctional facility for the incarceration and treatment of sexual offenders. The largest number of offenders in this facility have been incarcerated there for offenses against minors or for incest.
Once such material is discovered, the bill provides for its removal and destruction. The initiation of the appeal procedure provided in the bill would, of course, result in a delay in the material's destruction.
"Sexually oriented material" is defined as:
Any description, narrative account, display, or depiction of sexual activity or associated anatomical area contained in, or consisting of, a picture or other representation, publication, sound recording, live performance, or film.
Currently, N.J.A.C.10A:18-4.9 permits the withholding in the mailroom or removal from the inmate's possession of publications which fall into numerous categories, including one patterned closely on the statutory definition of "obscene material" which is drawn from case law. However, this bill would upgrade penalties in the following manner: a person receiving, distributing or exhibiting sexually oriented material, representing a broader category of items than obscene material, would be subject to on-the-spot sanctions now provided under departmental rules for minor violations pursuant to N.J.A.C.10A:4-7.3 which include: a) verbal reprimand, b) loss of recreation privileges for up to five days, c) up to four hours of extra work duty, d) loss of radio or television privileges for up to five days, or e) confiscation or f) all of the above.
More serious inmate offenses related to obscene material are set forth in the bill, including the sale or offering for sale of such items or the possession, distribution or exhibition of child pornography pursuant to the definitions relating to the depiction of children in "prohibited sexual acts" set forth in section 2 of P.L.1992, c.7 (C.2A:30B-2). These infractions would be viewed as inmate prohibited acts and subject to disciplinary action under the department's Schedule of Sanctions for Prohibited Acts in subsection (b) of N.J.A.C.10A:4-5.1. Some of these sanctions include up to 15 days disciplinary detention, loss of institutional privileges for up to 30 days, up to 60 days loss of commutation time, administrative segregation up to 90 days, and loss of furlough privileges.
Prohibits receipt, distribution, and exhibition of sexually oriented and obscene material at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center.