This bill amends New Jersey's bias intimidation law to explicitly include Sikhism as a protected class, alongside existing categories such as race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, and ethnicity. The legislation aims to address the rising incidents of anti-Sikh hate crimes, as highlighted by the FBI's report indicating that Sikhs are the second-most targeted group for religiously-motivated hate crimes in the United States. The bill outlines that individuals can be charged with bias intimidation if they commit or threaten certain offenses with the intent to intimidate based on a person's membership in a protected class, which now includes Sikhism.

Additionally, the bill mandates the Office of the Attorney General, in collaboration with the Department of Education, to develop training for law enforcement on Sikhism and to create public awareness campaigns to educate the community about Sikh identity and issues. It also expands the responsibilities of the Chief Diversity Officer to ensure that anti-Sikh hate definitions are incorporated into public entity policies. To support these initiatives, the bill appropriates $100,000 annually for three years from the General Fund to fund Sikh awareness educational initiatives and outreach efforts.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 52:32-18.1