SB 975 | Penalizing false reports of emergency threats to educational facilities

Under current law, if a "terroristic threat" is made to an entity that "causes the occupants of the building, place of assembly or facility of public transportation to be diverted from their normal or customary operations," the offense is graded as a third-degree felony.

 

SB 975 (PN 1518) proposes to amend 18 § 2706 to make any threat against a school entity or institution of higher education a third-degree felony. But this is unnecessary and likely redundant, since threats to schools would presumably be made at a time when people would be "diverted from their normal operations" and would therefore be already chargeable as third-degree felony offenses.

 

Additionally, SB 975 would expand what costs can be assessed for the purposes of restitution. These costs would be not only excessive, but would also be imposed on juveniles. Restitution costs under the bill include:

• Costs of supplies, equipment or materials used to respond to the threat.
• Costs of prepared and unprepared food that went unused as a result of an evacuation or diversion due to the threat.
• Salary or other wages, including overtime pay, of any employee who responded to the threat.
• Salary or other wages, including overtime pay, of any teacher, administrator, aide or other employee who was paid despite the diversion.