Establishes offense of inciting public brawl; upgrades penalty for disorderly conduct in certain circumstances.

The public brawl offense (N.J.S.2C:33-1(c)) now requires the person to act with purpose to 'incite' (rather than 'organize or promote') a group of four or more persons to engage in disorderly conduct 'imminently,' and adds a second element requiring that the person's actions are 'likely to incite or produce' such imminent conduct. This narrows the offense by adding both an imminence requirement and a likelihood-of-success element.

The threshold for public brawl to be a fourth-degree crime (rather than a disorderly persons offense) was changed from acting with purpose to 'disrupt or cause a disturbance at a public gathering or event' to acting with purpose to 'incite or produce the course of disorderly conduct defined in subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:33-2.' This ties the elevated penalty more directly to the specific statutory definition of disorderly conduct.

The concealing identity provision (N.J.S.2C:33-2(c)) was narrowed from any attempt to conceal identity to specifically 'by wearing a mask or disguise,' and 'instill fear' was added as an additional purpose alongside hindering prosecution or avoiding apprehension.

A new exception was added in N.J.S.2C:33-2(d) stating that a person who wears a mask or disguise solely for medical, religious, or expressive purposes shall not be deemed to have acted with purpose to instill fear, hinder prosecution, or avoid apprehension. This provides a First Amendment and personal-rights safeguard.

The merger provision for public brawl convictions was expanded from not merging with 'subsection a.' of N.J.S.2C:33-2 to 'subsections a. or d.,' meaning a public brawl conviction also will not merge with a disturbance at a public gathering charge.

The bill moved from First Reprint (as reported by Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on March 17, 2025) to Second Reprint (as amended on May 15, 2025 by the General Assembly pursuant to the Governor's recommendations), indicating a conditional veto was exercised.