Police reform bill package

The New Jersey Senate voted out a package of bipartisan bills addressing racial bias and increased diversity among police forces. The New Jersey State Bar Association's (NJSBA) Commission on Racial Equality in the Law is tasked with studying policies and initiatives, including legislation, to identify methods of addressing root causes of inequities in the profession and in the law. The package of bills passed last week includes:

• S-401 (Turner) would require law enforcement agencies in the state to establish minority recruitment and selection programs
• S-415 (Turner) would require the Division of Parole to offer services to certain defendants who have served their maximum sentence (Currently, parole services are only offered to those released on parole.)
• S-419 (Turner) would require law enforcement agencies to provide law enforcement officers with cultural diversity training and develop a diversity action plan
• S-2635 (Gill)/S-2578 (Singleton) would include false incrimination and filing false police reports as a form of bias intimidation (It would also establish making false 911 calls with the purpose to intimidate or harass based on race or other protected class a crime.)
• S-2689 (Greenstein) would require the Department of Law and Public Safety to incorporate implicit bias in cultural diversity training materials for law enforcement officers (Under the bill, cultural diversity and implicit bias training would be mandatory for all law enforcement officers. The Assembly passed the bill in June.)

Immediate issuance of marriage/civil union licenses

The Assembly advanced A-2717 (Murphy), which would provide for the immediate issuance of marriage and civil union licenses and provides for a 72-hour waiting period prior to the ceremony, except in certain circumstances where a waiver is sought. The NJSBA supported this measure as a way to streamline an outdated, onerous process. The bill remains pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Modernization of business filing

The Assembly passed a bill that modernizes business filing statutes to include entity conversion and domestication. A-3513 (Freiman) is supported by the NJSBA as necessary to advance the expedience of the Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act. There is no Senate companion bill.

Professional license bill

The Assembly passed a bill that prohibits a requirement to prove lawful presence in the United States as a qualification for obtaining professional or occupational licenses. A-4225 (Mukherji)/S-2455 (Pou) passed the Senate in a controversial vote of 26–11–0 to permit individuals to obtain licenses for nursing, physical therapy, teaching, and similar occupations and professions. The NJSBA supports this legislation as a key to advancing New Jersey's workforce, providing support to fill a labor shortage and providing expertise in these occupations and professions. The bill heads to the governor.