Court Opinion

ID: 9641811
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 17:40:49.350162+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:39.915869
License: Public Domain

HANDLER, J.,
dissenting in part and concurring in part.
The sentencing provision applicable to young adult offenders, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-5, is a long-standing statutory scheme that was re-enacted as part of the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice. *89It provides for indeterminate custodial sentences of eligible young adult offenders to the Youth Correctional Institution Complex. The recently enacted Graves Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6c, requires the imposition of a three year minimum sentence to State Prison without parole eligibility for persons who use or possess a gun in the course of committing certain crimes. The major question presented by both of these appeals is whether N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6c impliedly repeals the sentencing provisions relating to young adult offenders, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-5. An additional question presented in the Des Marets appeal is whether the Graves Act applies to an offender who simply possesses a firearm that is stolen during a burglary without the intent to use that weapon against persons in the commission of the crime or for purposes of escape. The majority concludes that the N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6c impliedly repeals the young adult offenders sentencing statute. It also concludes that its mandatory sentencing provisions apply to a person possessed of a firearm without an intent to use it for the commission of a crime. I disagree with these conclusions and therefore dissent.
I
The Graves Act is a sentencing statute of unusual severity. The required sentence under the Graves Act is an immutable three year jail term in State Prison. It applies following a determination of guilt of certain substantive crimes when a convicted offender is shown in a pre-sentencing hearing to have used or possessed a firearm during the commission or attempted commission of the crime. These crimes generally involve violence or the threat or risk of violence against persons. They are murder (N.J.S.A. 2C:ll-3), manslaughter (N.J.S.A. 2C:ll-4), aggravated assault (N.J.S.A. 2C:12-lb), kidnapping (N.J.S.A. 2C:13-1), aggravated sexual assault (N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2a), aggravated criminal sexual contact (N.J.S.A. 2C:14-3a), robbery (N.J. *90S.A. 2C:15-1), burglary (N.J.S.A. 20:18-2), escape (N.J.S.A. 20:29-5) and possession of a firearm with intent to use it against the person of another (N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4a). 1
The Graves Act is not self-defining or self-explanatory. Its language, and the majority’s painstaking interpretation of its provisions, underscore the Act’s lack of clarity. The statutory terms are obviously “susceptible of differing constructions.” N.J.S.A. 2C:l-2c. Judicial interpretation to ascertain its true meaning is therefore imperative. In addressing this task, however, the majority has failed to apply the principles of statutory construction prescribed by the Legislature itself in the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice as well as traditional interpretive approaches designed to give fair meaning to criminal stat*91utes. As a result, it has given the Graves Act an extraordinarily harsh interpretation which is, I believe, unwarranted and unjust.
The Legislature has prescribed standard rules of construction of all Code provisions. N.J.S.A. 2C:l-2c. Several of these standards apply directly to the sentencing provisions of the Code. They emphasize the objectives of discretionary, enlightened, fair and individualized sentencing, e.g., N.J.S.A. 2C:l-2b (2), (4), (5), (6) and (7). The Legislature has not in any way intimated that these statutory principles of interpretation should not govern the sentencing provisions of the Graves Act and those applicable to young adult offenders.
Furthermore, as a penal statute, the interpretation of the Graves Act is still influenced by, if not subject to, the traditional principle of strict construction. Neeld v. Giroux, 24 N.J. 224, 229 (1957); State v. Brenner, 132 N.J.L. 607, 611 (E. & A. 1944). It is difficult to imagine a rule of construction of greater importance and durability. See United States v. Wiltberger, 18 U.S. (5 Wheat.) 76, 95, 5 L.Ed. 37, 42 (1820) (Marshall, C.J.). Thus, as a penal statute, the Graves Act’s operative provisions cannot be extended by implication. Brenner, 132 N.J.L. at 611; State v. Fair Lawn Service Center, Inc., 20 N.J. 468, 472 (1956). This rule of strict construction “is designed to narrowly confine the scope of the conduct covered, or the penalty applicable to such conduct, so as to avoid fundamental unfairness which might result when those penalized could arguably be said to have misunderstood positive law, or, more realistically, so as to avoid the unfairness of arbitrary enforcement.” State v. Maguire, 84 N.J. 508, 514 n. 6 (1980). The rule has been said to have its derivation in the requirement of due process, In Re Suspension of DeMarco, 83 N.J. 25, 36 (1980), and in fundamental fairness, State v. Maguire.
This cautionary approach is especially warranted with respect to a penal statute that carries such drastic consequences as the Graves Act. It is highly germane in addressing each of the major issues in these appeals relating to whether the Graves Act *92has supplanted the young adult offender sentencing provisions of the Code and the extent of the coverage of the Graves Act. To fail to accord this statute a strict construction consistent with the interpretive principles of the Code itself is to countenance arbitrary enforcement and grave injustice in its individual applications.
II
The issue as to whether the Graves Act impliedly repeals the sentencing scheme relating to young adult offenders is raised in both appeals. In Des Marets, the trial judge sentenced this 18-year old defendant under the Graves Act. He determined that the court is “without discretion” to impose any sentence other than the three year minimum jail term under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6c. Nevertheless, the court added that “[m]y sentence would have been a sentence to the Youth Reception and Correction Center at Yardville for an indeterminate term not to exceed three years, which would have had the practical effect of an approximate eight or nine month sentence.... ” In Appleton, the sentencing court similarly stated that defendant was otherwise eligible to be sentenced to an indeterminate term but could not be under the preemptive mandatory provisions of the Graves Act.
N.J.S.A. 2C:43-5 authorizes a court to sentence a young adult offender to an indeterminate term at the Youth Correctional Institution Complex, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 30:4-146 to -148. N.J.S.A. 30:4-148 states that “courts in sentencing pursuant to N.J.S. 2C:43-5 shall not fix or limit the duration of the sentence, ...” although the court must specify the maximum sentence imposed. The majority concludes that these provisions for sentencing young adult offenders are impliedly repealed because they cannot be reconciled with the Graves Act. Supra at 76.
I disagree. In my estimation the sentencing provisions for youthful offenders and the Graves Act can be fairly and reason*93ably construed in a manner that gives effect to both statutes. Courts are adjured to harmonize seemingly inconsistent statutes. Consequently, in a case such as that presented by the statutes involved in these appeals, the strong presumption in the law against implied repealers is not surmounted. See Brewer v. Porch, 53 N.J. 167, 173 (1969). The judicially declared repeal of statutes should be undertaken only when it is abundantly clear that the Legislature itself intended to cancel one statute by enacting another. For that reason, courts properly insist that the legislative intent to repeal an earlier statute be manifest, State v. States, 44 N.J. 285, 291 (1965), and expressed clearly by the terms of the statute or indisputably reflected in its legislative history. See State v. Reed, 34 N.J. 554, 561 (1961). In order to repeal an earlier enactment by implication, a later statute must allow no other result and admit of no other reasonable interpretation. It must clearly exclude any possibility for the coexistence of both pieces of legislation. See State v. States, 44 N.J. at 291.
The question posed by these appeals — whether mandatory sentencing provisions have by implication repealed existing sentencing schemes, and particularly, those applicable to young adult offenders — has been considered previously by our courts on several occasions. These decisions illustrate the rarity of hypothesizing a legislative intent to effect such a significant repeal by indirection or implication.
In State v. Hopson, 60 N.J. 1 (1971), rev’d on dissent, 114 N.J.Super. 146, 150 (App.Div.1971), the Court was faced with a conflict between the minimum sentence required under the Uniform Narcotic Drug Act, N.J.S.A. 24:18-47(c)(l), and the limits imposed by N.J.S.A. 30:4-148. In allowing the indeterminate term, this Court adopted Judge Halpern’s dissent, which emphasized the Legislature’s desire to treat young offenders separately:
Unquestionably, the Legislature, for about 70 years has felt that such persons had a better chance to be rehabilitated under an indeterminate sentence and returned to society as a useful member thereof, than persons not in that *94category. If the Legislature intended to break away from this longstanding philosophy of reformatory sentencing, it would have done so by specifically creating an exception in narcotic offenses. [114 N.J.Super. at 151 (citation omitted) ]
It is noteworthy in Hopson that the Legislature provided for mandatory sentences in the Uniform Narcotic Drug Act in order to maximize its goal of deterrence for a particular class of offenders, which assuredly included young adults in substantial numbers. Despite the Act’s inclusion of mandatory sentences which would make certain that convicted offenders served a fixed period of time in State Prison, the Court held that the Act did not abrogate the statutory provisions that permit the imposition of indeterminate sentences for young adult offenders. The parallel to the current Graves Act is clear. The majority does not meaningfully distinguish the penal purpose of the Uniform Narcotic Drug Act which was the subject of Hopson from that of the Graves Act which is the subject of these appeals. Its assertion that the latter is intended to be more severe because only the Graves Act imposes both a minimum sentence and parole ineligibility, supra at 74-75, hardly differentiates the equally serious legislative penal concerns that were evident in fashioning the mandatory sentences applicable to narcotics offenders in Hopson. These concerns, though genuine and documented, were nevertheless found wanting as a basis for an implied repeal of the young adult offenders sentencing scheme. A clear and unmistakable basis for such an implied repeal in these cases is similarly lacking.
State v. Brozi, 125 N.J.Super. 485 (App.Div.1973), certif. den., 64 N.J. 501 (1974), involved a similar conflict, this time between the kidnapping statute with its 30-year minimum sentence, N.J.S.A. 2A:118-1, and the requirements of N.J.S.A. 30:4-148, which proscribes a sentence of a fixed minimum duration for young adult offenders. Again, the court gave great weight to the purpose behind reformatory sentences, placing the burden on the Legislature to preclude indeterminate sentences specifically if it wishes to do so. An indeterminate sentence was *95allowed, despite the serious nature of the offense. Similarly, in State v. Prewitt, 127 N.J.Super. 560, 565 n. 1 (App.Div.1974), the court noted: “Mandatory minimum sentences, sometimes contained in our statutes, are inapplicable when the sentence is indeterminate.”
Recently, the Law Division in State v. Ribbecke, 185 N.J.Super. 65 (Law Div.1982), held that a sentencing court has the authority to impose an indeterminate term at Yardville for a twenty-four year old man who was convicted of manslaughter for accidentally shooting his best friend. The court reasoned:
N.J.S.A. 2C:l-2 directs the courts to construe the code so as to “give fair warning of the nature of the sentences that may be imposed on conviction of an offense” and to “differentiate among offenders with a view to a just individualization in their treatment.” In State v. McBride, 66 N.J. 577, 580 (1975), the court expressed this philosophy: “A youthful offender eligible for sentence to the Complex should ordinarily be sentenced there unless good and substantial reasons exist for not so doing.” Since the Code provides that any person under 26 years of age may be sentenced to the reformatory, and since the Graves Act does not expressly forbid such treatment and prior case law urges it, there is no doubt that to meet the Code’s requirement of “fair warning” regarding sentencing alternatives, this court must resolve the conflict by following the prior cases and deciding that a defendant who comes within the youthful offender category may be committed to a reformatory without a minimum term or to State Prison if the court believes that application of a minimum term is appropriate. [Id. at 71.]
This position is consistent with that of other jurisdictions. See, e.g., United States v. MacDonald, 455 F.2d 1259 (1 Cir.1972), cert. den., 406 U.S. 962, 92 S.Ct. 2070, 2073, 32 L.Ed.2d 350 (1972); United States v. Colamarco, 320 F.Supp. 616 (E.D.N.Y.1970); Whitlock v. State, 404 So.2d 795 (Fla.App.1981); Commonwealth v. Hayes, 372 Mass. 505, 362 N.E.2d 905 (Mass.1977).2
*96As noted, special sentencing provisions for young adult offenders have been a part of our criminal laws for many years, and were expressly re-enacted in 1978 with the adoption of the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice. In effect, the Legislature reconfirmed the judicial authority to sentence those under 26 years of age to indeterminate terms of confinement at youth correctional institutions. The sentencing provisions for young adults were carefully integrated with the total sentencing scheme of the Code. N.J.S.A. 2C:43-5 explicitly permits judges to impose such a sentence “instead of the sentences otherwise authorized by the code.” It is difficult to believe that the Legislature, having included the young adult offenders provision in the sentencing framework of the new Code, would silently repudiate this significant legislation just a short time later.
Furthermore, there is no hint in the language of the Graves Act or its legislative history that the Legislature believed there was any actual or potential conflict between the two laws or purposefully set about to repeal the entire sentencing scheme for young adult offenders. Indeed, the two statutory schemes by their terms are coordinate and reconcilable in application. Together, they present a comprehensive sentencing approach. Their application would result in Graves Act sentences to State Prison for the fixed three-year minimum being applied to all adult offenders twenty-six years of age and over if guilty of covered gun crimes; they would also result in such sentences for all convicted offenders under the age of twenty-six committing Graves Act crimes who did not receive indeterminate sentences under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-5. Finally, only those “Graves Act” offenders under age twenty-six, who, as a matter of discretion exercised under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-5 were not sentenced to State Prison, would receive indeterminate terms.
The majority’s conclusion that the two statutes are in fundamental conflict rests on pure hypothesis. The majority attributes an intent to the Graves Act that, it asserts, is inconsistent with the recognized purpose of the young adult offenders sentencing provisions.
*97I can agree that the overriding purpose of the Graves Act is deterrence. I can also agree that the Legislature sought to achieve its goals of deterrence by fashioning a sentencing scheme that would increase sentencing severity and certainty for particular offenses. However, the majority’s conception of the Graves Act extends its deterrence consequences much further. It assumes, without discernible support in the statutory language or history, that the Legislature sought to eliminate sentencing discretion traditionally available for young adult offenders with respect to Graves Act offenses. This assumption is apparently founded upon the belief that the sentencing provision for young adult offenders disavows deterrence as a goal and, for that reason, its continued survival alongside the Graves Act will destroy the deterrence purpose of the latter. The infirmity in this reasoning — that the purposes of the respective enactments are repugnant to each other — fails to recognize that the values of deterrence are a constituent part of N.J.S.A. 2C:43-5.
First, it must be emphasized that there is nothing that compels that a young adult offender be sentenced under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-5. N.J.S.A. 20:43-5 permits — it does not mandate — -the imposition of an indeterminate sentence for youthful offenders. The judicial authority under the young adult offenders provision contemplates that deterrence, as well as rehabilitation, is a goal to be considered in the individual case. Further, the Code of Criminal Justice includes among the objectives of sentencing, in addition to rehabilitation, the prevention and condemnation of criminal acts and general and specific deterrence of crime. N.J.S.A. 2C:l~2b(l) to (3). See In re Trantino Parole Application, 89 N.J. 347 (1982). These sentencing goals are clearly relevant in the sentencing of young adult offenders. State v. Marzolf, 79 N.J. 167 (1979); State v. Jones, 76 N.J. 208, 212 (1978) (quoting State v. Jones, 66 N.J. 563, 568 (1975)); see State v. Spinks, 66 N.J. 568, 575 (1975); cf. State in the Interest of C.A.H. & B.A.R., 89 N.J. 326, 336-37 (1982) (punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation should be balanced in waiving juvenile *98court jurisdiction); State in the Interest of B.C.L., 82 N.J. 362, 377-78 (discussing the principles of the juvenile justice system).
In view of the deterrence standards that are a part of the young adult offenders sentencing scheme, it is gratuitous to impute a legislative intent to abrogate this sentencing methodology. The Graves Act can be seen as modifying — but not abolishing — this sentencing structure. As noted, the framers of the Code of Criminal Justice incorporated the young adult offenders provisions of the reformatory law into the Code “as a sentencing alternative.” II The New Jersey Penal Code: Final Report of the New Jersey Criminal Law Revision Commission 316 (1971). Juxtaposed with the young adult offenders scheme, the Graves Act should be viewed as a major alteration of the equation applicable to the sentencing of young adults. It has changed the comparative weight to be attributed to the factors that must be balanced in sentencing. In effect, the Graves Act itself will become a critical, if not dominant, consideration to be weighed in the exercise of this sentencing discretion with respect to crimes committed with firearms. And, in light of the extant Code standards calling for certainty, predictability, consistency and uniformity in sentencing, In re Trantino, 89 N.J. at 368; see I The New Jersey Penal Code: Final Report of the New Jersey Criminal Law Revision Commission at xiv, there is strong reason to conclude that the Legislature fully understood that the Graves Act policy would be relevant in the continued application of the young adult sentencing provisions.3
*99The Court surmises from statistics that unless the Graves Act were enforced unencumbered by the young adult offenders scheme, a majority of offenders under the Graves Act will escape sufficient punishment. Although statistics marshalled by the majority show that a substantial percentage — 59 percent— of Graves Act crimes are perpetrated by young adults, supra at 77, it does not follow that attacking this evil — punishing these young offenders — requires the abrogation of the young adult offenders provisions. Available statistics also demonstrate that prior to the enactment of the Graves Act, about half of the young offenders committing the same gun-related crimes, who were eligible for indeterminate sentencing, were in fact sentenced to fixed terms of imprisonment appropriate for adult offenders.4 Surely, even without the repeal of the young adult offenders scheme, the number and severity of jail terms for young adult offenders committing “Graves Act” offenses will continue to grow.5
*100These considerations constitute forceful arguments against imputing to the Legislature an intent to get rid of the sentencing provisions available to young adult offenders committing gun-related crimes. I do not foresee, as does the majority, an inevitable sentencing debacle if we were to recognize, as I believe the Legislature did, the feasible and sensible integration of both sentencing schemes. Regretfully, what I do see under the majority’s interpretation is the Graves Act striking individuals clearly not within the contemplation of its harsh sanctions.
Ill
The Graves Act provides that a person convicted of particular enumerated crimes who “in the course of committing or attempting to commit the crime, including the immediate flight therefrom, used or was in possession of a firearm” is subject to its mandatory sentencing provisions. N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6c. The Act thus applies unmistakably to persons who actually use guns while committing particular crimes. The Act also covers persons who possess guns during the commission of such crimes. It does not, however, by its own terms expressly describe or define the type of possession that subjects an offender to its mandatory jail term. Determination of the elements of such possession is of critical significance in the Des Marets case.
' Des Marets was involved in two separate burglaries on March 23,1981. With respect to the Mason house crimes, in which two handguns were stolen, Des Marets was indicted in five counts charging burglary, theft of property and conspiracy. He was charged in two counts with burglary and theft in connection with the Coulten house crimes, which involved the taking of a radio and other items. Defendant was also charged in a separate indictment in four counts with possession of a handgun *101without a permit and receiving stolen property. The record does not demonstrate that defendant was in possession of a gun or took one with him when he committed the Coulton burglary.
Defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary, two counts of theft and to the count of possession of a handgun; other charges were dropped. The State agreed to recommend a sentence of 90 days in the county jail plus a probationary period. Des Marets was sentenced by the trial judge only on the third degree burglary charges, N.J.S.A. 2C:18-2. When sentenced, the trial court applied the Graves Act on the theory that Des Marets was “in possession of a firearm, albeit the fruits of that particular burglary ..., upon his departure from the premises.” Des Marets received concurrent terms of four years, with three years of parole ineligibility pursuant to the Graves Act.
It is reasonably inferable that the trial court was satisfied, as was the prosecutor, that Des Marets was guilty of third degree burglary. This is crucial in terms of the application of the Graves Act. Third degree burglary differs from burglary in the second degree in that in the latter the offender “is armed with or displays what appears to be explosives or a deadly weapon.” N.J.S.A. 2C:18-2b. The crime committed by Des Marets was considered a third degree burglary, that is, a burglary in which he neither was armed with nor displayed “a deadly weapon.”
Nevertheless, the majority holds that simple possession of a weapon — that is a bare possession without any intent to use it — is covered by the Graves Act and triggers its mandatory sentencing provisions. This conclusion is borne of a permissive reading of the statute, one that could not be reached were the enactment read and interpreted strictly. Moreover, the majority’s interpretation is one that should be avoided to prevent the “unfairness of arbitrary enforcement.” State v. Maguire, 84 N.J. at 514 n. 6.
The majority asserts that the definition of “possession” in N.J.S.A. 2C:2-lc governs the meaning of this term as used in the Graves Act. Supra at 68. However, N.J.S.A. 2C:2-lc merely defines when possession constitutes an act for the pur*102poses of the Code. It was never intended to define “the mem rea or mental element with which the possession must take place to make possession criminal.” II The New Jersey Penal Code: Final Report of the New Jersey Criminal Law Revision Commission at 39.
The majority’s reading of the statute to cover simple possession without any intent to use a weapon criminally also strains the language of the statute because it transforms the term “used” in the Graves Act into mere surplusage. All criminals who use firearms would, at the very least, be in possession of them. If possession is intended to be all-inclusive, as the majority rules, the Legislature’s employment of the term “use” seems pointless. It is not probable that the Legislature would employ so potent a term as “use” as a redundancy. Rather, it is likely that it intended this term to have full and independent force and effect. See Hoffman v. Hock, 8 N.J. 397, 406 (1952); Jersey City v. Department of Civil Service, 7 N.J. 509, 520 (1951).6
An examination of the crimes to which the Graves Act applies bolsters the conclusion that the Act focuses upon purposeful criminal action of a violent or threatening kind. It is significant that seven of the nine listed crimes are crimes against persons in every instance. For example, a defendant who purposely or knowingly causes death or serious bodily injury resulting in death is guilty of murder. N.J.S.A. 2C:ll-3. A defendant who unlawfully removes another person in order to facilitate commission of a crime or to inflict bodily injury or terrorize the victim or another person is guilty of kidnapping. N.J.S.A. 2C:13-1. Of the listed crimes, only burglary, N.J.S.A. 2C:18-2, *103and escape, N.J.S.A. 2C:29-5, need not be crimes against persons. Nevertheless, under aggravated circumstances they can also be crimes against persons. Burglary is a second degree crime when an individual “is armed with or displays what appears to be explosives or a deadly weapon;” otherwise, it is a third degree offense. Similarly, escape can threaten persons. It is usually a third degree offense but becomes the more serious second degree crime “where the actor employs force, threat, deadly weapon or other dangerous instrumentality to effect the escape.” Thus, these two offenses also constitute crimes of violence comparable to the listed crimes only when a dangerous weapon is used or intended to be used. A construction of all the enumerated crimes as involving the common thread of violence against persons is also consistent with the additional crime specified by the Graves Act, namely, possession of a firearm with intent to use it unlawfully against the person of another (.N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4a).7
Further support for an interpretation of the Graves Act as focusing upon crimes of personal violence can be derived from the Legislature’s use of the phrase “in the course of committing.” By this phraseology, the Legislature clearly tied the presence of a gun to the commission of the crime. This strongly suggests that the involvement of the gun in the crime would be purposeful or intentional. The same phrase appears in the burglary statute (N.J.S.A. 2C:18-2) and the analogous robbery statute (N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1). It is derived from the robbery provision of the Model Penal Code. The commentary to Section 222.1 states
*104Section 222.1 thus includes as robbery the conduct of a person who, having obtained or attempted to obtain the property, threatens or uses the specified force to retain the property, to escape, or to prevent pursuit. The thief’s willingness to use force against those who would restrain him in flight suggests that he would have employed force to effect the theft had the need arisen. [Model Penal Code sec. 222.1 comment (2)(b) ]
A court should strive to pull statutory strands together to give strength to the legislative fabric. A statutory scheme should be construed to achieve internal consistency and interrelated provisions should be read in pari materia. State v. Green, 62 N.J. 547, 554 (1973). The Act makes the best sense and achieves the greatest degree of cogency if it is construed to cover the purposeful possession of firearms with an intent to use them against persons in the course of committing a crime that itself causes or threatens actual or potential violence to individuals, or, is so possessed in the course of escaping from the commission of such crimes.
The Appellate Division in State v. Stewart, 186 N.J.Super. 517 (1982) (certif. pending), agreed with this interpretation. The court concluded that bare possession of a firearm, not otherwise shown to be connected with the commission of a crime, did not fall within the scope of the Graves Act. In that case, the defendant, who was sitting in a truck, was found to have stolen a plastic bag of marijuana from a victim standing in the street immediately outside the truck. The truck contained a flare gun. Although the defendant was acquitted of armed robbery and illegal possession of the flare gun, he was convicted of unarmed robbery. The trial court sentenced him to a prison term under the Graves Act.
The Appellate Division reversed, stating:
The obvious conclusion is that although defendant had constructive possession of three items that may have fit the definition of “firearm” in N.J.S.A. 2C:39-l(f), he was not “armed” with them during the incident with Hampton because they played absolutely no part in the crime that was committed. There is no evidence that defendant used them for criminal purposes or that they were intentionally possessed for use in a criminal enterprise. [Id. at 521]
*105The court reasoned that the Legislature, in enacting the Graves Act, intended that there be a “nexus” between the fact that the offender is armed and the crime committed. It further recognized that such a holding is consistent with the legislative purpose of the Graves Act:
The manifest intent of the Graves Act was to penalize more harshly those who arm themselves before going forth to commit crimes. The intent of the Legislature in passing the Graves Act can best be effectuated by interpreting it to mean that the firearm must be used, or be purposefully available for use, to facilitate the actual commission of the crime or to aid in the perpetrator’s “get-away.” [Id. at 520] 8
The Court is adjured to limit the reach of the Graves Act no further than reasonably required by its language, its sense and its history. In my opinion that would not extend beyond the use of, or the possession with intent to use, firearms in the course of committing the statutorily enumerated crimes. It is, after all, an extremely severe penal statute we are applying. In such circumstances, if there is a margin of error in its interpretation affecting the breadth of its coverage, that margin should be narrowed as much as language reasonably permits to assure fairness and justice in the law’s individual applications. A failure to accord a strict interpretation of the Act increases intolerably the risk of injustice and “arbitrary enforcement.” State v. Maguire, 84 N.J. at 514 n. 6. The enduring wisdom of these traditional principles of strict construction has, unfortunately, played no role in influencing the outcome of this appeal, evidenced by the harsh and oppressive fixed three-year State Prison sentence meted out to Des Marets.
*106IV
These several points raise substantial questions as to the application of the penal sanctions of the Graves Act to young adult offenders and the substantive scope of its coverage. In cases of genuine doubt as to the scope of the crime and severity of the penalty to be applied, the rule of strict construction and its corollary, the rule of lenity, counsel that the narrower interpretation be invoked and milder penalty be applied. Busic v. United States, 446 U.S. 398, 406, 100 S.Ct. 1747, 1753, 64 L.Ed. 2d 381, 389 (1980) (federal statute authorizing imposition of enhanced penalties for defendants who use or carry a firearm in the commission of a federal felony cannot be applied to defendant who used firearm in commission of a felony that is proscribed by a statute that itself permits enhancement if a dangerous weapon is used); Bell v. United States, 349 U.S. 81, 83, 75 S.Ct. 620, 622, 99 L.Ed. 905, 910 (1955); State v. Wooten, 73 N.J. 317, 326 (1977) (Pashman, J., dissenting) (Appellate Division decision affirmed by equally divided court).
The doubts that generate the need for the strict construction and narrow application of penal laws are especially pronounced in this case. Because of the extreme severity of the penal consequences of the statute — the fixed three-year jail term to State Prison — these doubts must be resolved against the implied repeal of the young adult offender sentencing scheme and the extended coverage of the Act to bare or simple possession. On these grounds, I dissent from the majority’s opinion. I concur in the results otherwise reached by the Court.
Justice SCHREIBER joins in this opinion.
For affirmance —Chief Justice WILENTZ and Justices CLIFFORD, POLLOCK, O’HERN and GARIBALDI-4.
Dissenting in part and concurring in part — Justices SCHREIBER and HANDLER — 2.

The Graves Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6c, as originally enacted, applied to all defendants convicted under N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4a which prohibits possession of a gun with intent to use it against the person or property of another. It was amended in 1982 to apply upon conviction of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4a only when the defendant intends to use the gun against a person. L.1982, c. 119, § 1. The Graves Act as amended states:
A person who has been convicted under 2C:39-4a. of possession of a firearm with intent to use it against the person or another, or of a crime under any of the following sections: 2C:ll-3, 2C:ll-4, 2C:12-lb., 2C:13-1, 2C:14-2a., 2C:14-3a., 2C:15-1, 2C:18-2, 2C:29-5, who, while in the course of committing or attempting to commit the crime, including the immediate flight therefrom, used or was in possession of a firearm as defined in 2C:39-lf., shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment by the court. The term of imprisonment shall include the imposition of a minimum term. The minimum term shall be fixed at, or between, one-third and one-half of the sentence imposed by the court or 3 years, whichever is greater, or 18 months in the case of a fourth degree crime, during which the defendant shall be ineligible for parole. The minimum terms established by this section shall not prevent the court from imposing presumptive terms of imprisonment pursuant to 2C:44-lf.(l) except in cases of crimes of the fourth degree. A person who has been convicted of an offense enumerated by this subsection and who used or possessed a firearm during its commission, attempted commission or flight therefrom and who has been previously convicted of an offense involving the use or possession of a firearm as defined in 2C:44-3d., shall be sentenced by the court to an extended term as authorized by 2C:43-7c., notwithstanding that extended terms are ordinarily discretionary with the court.

 In State v. Robinson, 139 N.J.Super. 58 (App.Div.1976), certif. den., 75 N.J. 534 (1977), it was held that an individual sentenced by a jury to a mandatory life term for first degree murder may not be resentenced by a judge to the Youth Complex for an indeterminate term. The basis for the Robinson decision — the existence of a single mandatory penalty for a single crime — is not present with respect to the wide range of potential Graves Act offenders and offenses. See State v. Ribbecke, 185 N.J.Super. 65, 70 (Law Div.1982).

Pertinent to this discussion is S. 1691, currently being considered by the Legislature, which would add the following language to N.J.S.A. 2C:43-5:
This section shall not apply to any person less than 26 years of age at the time of sentencing who qualifies for a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment without eligibility for parole, pursuant to subsection c. of N.J.S. 2C:43-6; however, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection c. of N.J.S. 2C:43-6, the mandatory minimum term may be served at the Youth Correctional Institution Complex or the Correctional Institution for Women.
*99The State has argued that “S.1691 clearly does not constitute evidence that the Legislature originally intended indeterminate sentences to be available for Graves Act offenses. The proposed amendment is, rather, a necessary recognition that the legislature intent of the Graves Act is being frustrated by judicial misinterpretation of its provisions.” The sponsor’s statement, referring to “a loophole in current law,” is not dispositive. That is simply the sponsor’s belief and, indeed, if this amendment is adopted by the current Legislature, it may reflect its belief as well. However, it does not follow that the Legislature when enacting the Graves Act inadvertently left a gap or loophole in the law.

The Administrative Office of the Courts has indicated that the most recent pre-Graves Act statistics available are for the year 1977.

The majority assumes that all young adult “Graves Act” offenders would be given indeterminate terms and subject to immediate or early release if N.J.S.A. 2C:43-5 is not deemed to be repealed. Supra at 77. This assumption is not borne out by available statistics. Prior to the Graves Act, seventy-seven percent of young adult “Graves Act” offenders were incarcerated for some period of time. Thus, a total of 86 percent of all Graves Act offenders — 77 percent of the young adults and 100 percent of adult offenders — received jail terms prior to the Graves Act. The normal inference to be drawn is that criminals heretofore receiving State Prison terms for gun-relat*100ed crimes will continue to be subject to the Graves Act, that a substantial number of persons previously receiving non-State Prison custodial terms will also be sentenced to State Prison under the Graves Act, and, further, that a substantial number of young adults receiving indeterminate terms will now be sentenced directly under the Graves Act.

The countervailing suggestion is that the limited definition of “possession” (i.e., one that requires criminal intent) also renders the term “used” as a mere surplusage. Supra at 87. However, the term “used” retains independent significance with the confined definition of possession. It means simply that if a gun is “used” in the commission of a crime, separate proof of intent is not required to establish a Graves Act crime. If, on the other hand, a weapon is not “used,” an unlawful intent to use would, in my opinion, be essential to establish the prohibited possession under the Graves Act.

The suggestion of the majority that N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4a renders the enumerated crimes unnecessary if the term possession were given a limited meaning, supra at 86, is not sound. The enumerated crimes are serious offenses. It is by no means certain, or even likely, that convictions of crimes of this magnitude would always be accompanied by a separate conviction for unlawful possession of a gun under N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4a.

The legislative history of the Graves Act also lends support to the conclusion that its mandatory sentencing terms apply to violence-laden crimes and to purposeful possession of weapons by offenders during the commission of such crimes. The Assembly Committee Report on S.1071, an earlier version of the Graves Act that was vetoed by Governor Byrne, is some evidence of this position: “The purpose of this bill is to make criminals think twice before going forth to commit crimes armed with guns.” It is difficult to conclude from this history, as the majority does, that the Graves Act could apply to an individual like Des Marets who stole a handgun but did not in any other way use or intend to use it to perpetrate any crime.