New Jersey gets stiffer cruelty law; veal crate ban to be reintroduced

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2004:

TRENTON, N.J.–New Jersey Governor James McGreevey on
January 10, 2004 signed into law a bill raising the maximum penalty
for cruelty to animals to five years in prison and a fine of $15,000
for a criminal conviction, and increasing the civil penalties that
may be collected by state-chartered SPCAs to a maximum of $5,000.
The bill was introduced by state assembly members Doug
Fisher, John Burizichelli, and Robert Smith.
McGreevey signed it one day after activist Barbara Shuts
heckled him at a meeting with about 500 members of the American
Association of Retired Persons. Shuts reminded McGreevey that he
pledged to oppose bear hunting when running for governor, but then
authorized the first bear hunt in New Jersey since 1970. The six-day
hunt last November killed 328 bears.
New Jersey assembly majority leader Joe Roberts meanwhile
killed a bill to ban veal crating by refusing to put it to a vote
during the final days of the 210th legislature.
“The measure, which already passed in the New Jersey senate,
had enough votes to pass in the assembly,” Farm Sanctuary claimed.
The bill was immediately reintroduced in both the assembly
and the senate when the 211th legislature convened.