New Jersey Statutes 26:2H-139. Intentional failure to act, penalties, degree of crime
Attorney's Note
Under the New Jersey Statutes, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| crime of the first degree | between 10 and 20 years | up to $200,000 |
| crime of the fourth degree | up to 18 months | up to $10,000 |
Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 26:2H-139
- Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- 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
b. A health care institution that intentionally fails to act in accordance with the requirements of this act shall be liable to a civil penalty of not more than $1,000 for each offense. For the purposes of this subsection, each violation shall constitute a separate offense. The civil penalty shall be collected in a summary proceeding, brought in the name of the State in a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to the “Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999,” P.L.1999, c.274 (C. 2A:58-10 et seq.).
c. An emergency care provider subject to regulation by the Department of Health who intentionally fails to act in accordance with the requirements of this act is subject to such disciplinary measures as the commissioner deems necessary and within his statutory authority to impose.
d. A person who commits any of the following acts is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree:
(1) willfully concealing, canceling, defacing, obliterating, or withholding personal knowledge of a completed POLST form or a modification or revocation thereof, without the patient’s consent;
(2) falsifying or forging a completed POLST form or a modification or revocation thereof of another person;
(3) coercing or fraudulently inducing the completion of a POLST form or a modification or revocation thereof; or
(4) requiring or prohibiting the completion of a POLST form or a modification or revocation thereof as a condition of coverage under any policy of health or life insurance or an annuity, or a public benefits program, or as a condition of the provision of health care.
e. The commission of an act identified in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subsection d. of this section, which results in the involuntary earlier death of a patient, shall constitute a crime of the first degree.
f. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to repeal any sanctions applicable under any other law.
L.2011, c.145, s.11; amended 2012, c.17, s.257.