STATE v. CANNARELLA, 186 N.J. 63 (2006)

891 A.2d 609

Supreme Court of New Jersey.Argued January 3, 2006
Decided January 31, 2006

Appeal from the Superior Court, Law Division, Somerset County.

Johanna Barba Jones, Deputy Attorney General, argued the cause for appellant (Peter C. Harvey, Attorney General of New Jersey, attorney).

Shara D. Saget, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for respondent (Yvonne Smith Segars, Public Defender, attorney; Susan Green, Acting Deputy Public Defender, II on the letter in lieu of brief).

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PER CURIAM.

On this appeal, we have been asked to interpret N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1(b)(5)(d), the statute that elevates the disorderly persons offense of simple assault to third-degree aggravated assault when committed upon “[a]ny school board member, school administrator, teacher, school bus driver, or other employee of a school board. . . .” More particularly, the question is whether an assault on a private school teacher falls within that enhancing statute. The Appellate Division, applying well-established canons of statutory interpretation and relying on context and legislative history, answered that question in the negative. We agree with that conclusion, and affirm substantially for the reasons expressed in Judge Coburn’s thorough and thoughtful opinion.

We add these comments. The State’s reliance on State v. Ivory, 124 N.J. 582, 592 A.2d 205 (1991), which interprete N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7 to include private schools, is misplaced. That statute criminalizes drug sales and possession on “any school property used for school purposes which is owned by or leased to any elementary or secondary school or school board.” N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7. The reason that definition sweeps in private schools is that the statute uses the broadly inclusive phrase “school property . . . which is owned by or leased to any school or secondary school or school board.” Ibid. (emphasis added). That is not the language before us.

The State’s public policy arguments regarding why N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1(b)(5)(d) should apply to all teachers, private and public, are compelling. Indeed, many of the concerns expressed about the reining in of violence in public schools are equally applicable in the private school setting. Among our sister states that have adopted enhanced sentencing penalties for assaults on teachers, the majority protect private school teachers as well.[1] Although

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we are constrained by the language employed in N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1(b)(5)(d) from reaching that conclusion here, we commend this issue for consideration by the Legislature.

The judgment of the Appellate Division is affirmed.

For affirmance — Chief Justice PORITZ and Justices LONG, LaVECCHIA, ZAZZALI, ALBIN, WALLACE and RIVERA-SOTO — 7.

Opposed — None.