New Jersey Statutes 2A:58D-4. Violations, penalties
Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 2A:58D-4
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- person: includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense, includes this State, the United States, any other State of the United States as defined infra and any foreign country or government lawfully owning or possessing property within this State. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
- State: extends to and includes any State, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia and the Canal Zone. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
(2) A person who commits a violation of paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not disclose or cause to be disclosed personal identifying information of any person which identifies, or is presented in a context which identifies, the person as having been arrested, charged, prosecuted, or convicted of any criminal offense including, but not limited to, criminal history record background information and any photograph of the person taken at the time of arrest.
b. For purposes of this section:
“Disclosure” means publication, distribution, circulation, dissemination, presentation, exhibition, advertisement, or offering by any means including, but not limited to, the Internet.
“Pecuniary benefit” means a benefit in the form of money, property, commercial interests, or anything else the primary significance of which is economic gain.
“Personal identifying information” means any name, address, or other information that may be used, alone or in conjunction with any other information, to identify a specific individual, and any photographic image, reproduction, or other depiction of a person.
c. In addition to any other right of action or recovery otherwise available under the laws of this State, a person who knowingly violates the provisions of subsection a. of this section shall be liable to the person whose personal identifying information was the subject of the violation, who may bring a civil action in the Superior Court.
The court may award:
(1) actual damages, but not less than liquidated damages computed at the rate of $1,000 for each violation of paragraph (1) of subsection a. of this section and $10,000 for each violation of paragraph (2) of subsection a. of this section;
(2) punitive damages upon proof of willful or reckless disregard of the law;
(3) reasonable attorney’s fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred; and
(4) any other preliminary and equitable relief the court determines to be appropriate.
d. In addition to the liability provided under subsection c. of this section and any other right of action or recovery otherwise available under the laws of this State, a person violating the provisions of subsection a. of this section shall be liable for a civil penalty of not less than $500 for each act in violation of paragraph (1) of subsection a. of this section and a civil penalty of not less than $1,000 for each act in violation of paragraph (2) of subsection a. of this section. The penalty prescribed by this section shall be collected and enforced by summary proceedings under the “Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999,” P.L.1999, c.274 (C. 2A:58-10 et seq.).
L.2017, c.123, s.2.