Bill Text: NJ A3558 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes State definition of anti-Semitism; creates a public awareness campaign; appropriates $100,000.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-2)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-05 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee [A3558 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A3558-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GARY S. SCHAER
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes State definition of anti-Semitism; creates a public awareness campaign; and appropriates $100,000.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the definition of anti-Semitism, creating a bias crimes reporting public awareness campaign in the State of New Jersey, supplementing Title 10 of the Revised Statutes and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. Anti-Semitism, and harassment on the basis of actual or perceived national origin, shared ancestry, or ethnic characteristics with a religious group, remains a persistent, pervasive, and disturbing problem in contemporary American society.
b. Data shows that Jewish people are among the most likely of all minority groups to be victimized by incidents of hate, and such incidents are increasing at an alarming rate.
c. Data also shows that the State of New Jersey ranked third in the nation in anti-Semitic incidents last year.
d. Anti-Semitism on campus is systemic, broad and deep, with recent studies showing that the number of Jewish students experiencing anti-Semitism across the United States had spiked to nearly 75 percent and, in 2017 alone, there were more than 204 reports of anti-Semitic incidents of harassment, vandalism, or assault against Jewish students on campus, an 89 percent increase from the previous year.
e. State officials and institutions, including educational institutions, have a responsibility to protect citizens from hate and bigotry, and must be given the tools to stem both criminal conduct as well as discriminatory acts motivated by anti-Semitism.
f. Valid monitoring, informed analysis and investigating, and effective policy-making all require uniform definitions.
g. The standard definition of anti-Semitism, as used by the federal government, the 34 governments that are members of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, all 57 countries, except Russia, that comprise the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the governments of the United Kingdom, Romania, Austria, Germany, and Bulgaria, has been an essential definitional tool used to determine contemporary manifestations of anti-Semitism, and includes useful examples of discriminatory anti-Israel acts that cross the line into anti-Semitism.
h. Awareness of this definition of anti-Semitism will increase understanding of the parameters of contemporary anti-Jewish crime and discrimination.
i. The Office of the Attorney General, through its Bias Crimes Reporting unit, plays a pivotal role in combatting anti-Semitism and ensuring that those responsible for bias crimes are brought to justice.
j. Raising public awareness on how to report bias crimes, particularly through the dedicated bias crime reporting hotline within the Office of the Attorney General, is crucial for fostering a safer environment for disadvantaged communities in New Jersey.
2. a. For purposes of subsection b. of this section, the "definition of anti-Semitism" means the definition adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) on May 26, 2016, including the "contemporary examples of antisemitism".
b. In reviewing, investigating, or deciding whether there has been a violation of any policy, law, or regulation prohibiting discriminatory acts, the State shall take into consideration the definition of anti-Semitism adopted by the IHRA for purposes of determining whether the alleged act was motivated by anti-Semitic intent.
c. Nothing contained in this section, shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon any right protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, or paragraph 6 of Article I of the New Jersey State Constitution. Nothing in this section shall be construed to conflict with local, State, or federal anti-discrimination laws or regulations.
3. a. The Office of the Attorney General shall establish a public awareness campaign to promote bias crime reporting in New Jersey and the resources available through the New Jersey Bias Crimes Reporting Unit.
b. The public awareness campaign shall include, but need not be limited to: providing community outreach; training on how to identify and report bias crimes; disseminating information to the public about the resources available through the New Jersey Bias Crimes Reporting Unit, including the bias crime reporting hotline.
4. There is appropriated
the sum of $100,000 from the General Fund to the Office of the Attorney General
to establish a public awareness campaign in accordance with section 3 of P.L.
,
c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), to promote
bias crime reporting and the resources available through the New Jersey Bias
Crimes Reporting Unit.
5. This act shall take effect 30 days following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes a State definition of anti-Semitism. Under the bill, the term "definition of anti-Semitism" refers to the definition adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance on May 26, 2016, including the "contemporary examples of antisemitism".
The bill provides that in reviewing, investigating, or deciding whether there has been a violation of any policy, law, or regulation prohibiting discriminatory acts, the State must take into consideration this definition of anti-Semitism adopted by the IHRA for purposes of determining whether the alleged act was motivated by anti-Semitic intent.
Nothing contained in the bill would be construed to diminish or infringe upon any right protected under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, or paragraph 6 of Article I of the New Jersey State Constitution. Nothing in the bill would be construed to conflict with local, State, or federal anti-discrimination laws or regulations.
This bill also appropriates $100,000 to the Office of the Attorney General for the creation of a public awareness campaign to promote bias crime reporting. Through extensive community outreach, the citizens of New Jersey will be empowered to identify and report bias crimes using the existing bias crime reporting hotline within the New Jersey Bias Crimes Reporting Unit. This appropriation represents an investment in safety and collective action against bias crimes, including acts considered anti-Semitic.
