New Jersey Section 2C:1-14 – Definitions.
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New Jersey Criminal Code Section 2C:1-14 – Definitions
Section 2C:1-14 of the New Jersey criminal code provides definitions for commonly used terms in the code. This section helps clarify the meaning of legal language so everyday folks like you and me can understand the law. Let’s break it down in simple terms.
General Definitions
The section starts by defining general terms used throughout the code:
- Bodily injury means physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition. This is pretty straightforward – if you hurt someone’s body, that’s bodily injury.
- Serious bodily injury means any bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death or extended loss or impairment of any bodily member or organ. So this is like really bad bodily injury that could kill you or mess you up real bad.
- Deadly weapon means any firearm or other weapon, device, instrument, material or substance that is readily capable of causing death or serious bodily injury. Guns are an obvious deadly weapon, but even a bat or knife could be a deadly weapon if you use it to seriously injure or kill someone.
- Significant bodily injury means bodily injury which creates a temporary loss of the function of any bodily member or organ or temporary loss of any one of the five senses. So this is bodily injury that messes up how your body works, even if just for a little while.
Specific Definitions
After the general terms, the section lists definitions for some more specific legal words:
- Dwelling means any structure or room used for overnight living. This includes houses, apartments, hotels, even tents if someone is sleeping there overnight.
- Public passage means roads, streets, alleys and sidewalks. Basically anywhere outside that the public uses to travel.
- Public vehicular area means streets, highways, roads, alleys, sidewalks, driveways and parking lots open to the public. So this is like a public passage but specifically for vehicles.
There are also some definitions related to theft:
- Moveable property means property that people can carry or move around. Think jewelry, electronics, tools, etc. If it’s not nailed down and is meant to be moved, it’s moveable property.
- Deprive means to withhold property from someone permanently or take something that belongs to someone else. If you steal someone’s wallet, you’ve deprived them of their property.
- Appropriate means to take or make use of property for your own purposes and use. Like if you “borrow” your roommate’s clothes without asking, you’ve appropriated their property.
The code also defines terms related to sexual crimes:
- Sexual penetration means things like sexual intercourse, oral or anal sex, insertion of objects into genital openings, etc.
- Sexual contact means intentional touching of intimate parts like genitals, buttocks, breasts, for the purpose of degrading or humiliating someone or for sexual arousal.
Finally, here are some definitions related to messing with people’s property and computer systems:
- Data means information stored on electronic media like hard drives, flash drives, or in cloud storage. All those files on your computer are data.
- Computer program means ordered set of data that will direct the processing of data in a computer system. This is basically software, apps, operating systems, etc.
- Computer system means any electronic device or network for processing, storing, or transmitting data. Your laptop, phone, the wifi router in your house – those are all computer systems.
So in summary, Section 2C:1-14 of the New Jersey criminal code provides a bunch of handy definitions for legal terms related to bodily injury, theft, sexual crimes, property damage, and computer offenses. These definitions help clarify the exact meaning of the law’s language so people can understand what’s allowed and what could get you arrested. Let me know if any other parts of the law need explaining! I’m happy to break down the legal jargon.