Bill Text: NY A06792 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Designates offenses against law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency medical services personnel as hate crimes.

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Republican 16-1)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-09 - held for consideration in codes [A06792 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A06792-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          6792

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                       May 8, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  DeSTEFANO  --  read once and referred to the
          Committee on Codes

        AN ACT to amend the penal  law,  in  relation  to  designating  offenses
          against  law  enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency medical
          services personnel as hate crimes

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 2 and 4 of section 485.05 of the penal law,
     2  as  amended  by  chapter  8  of the laws of 2019, are amended to read as
     3  follows:
     4    1. A person commits a hate crime when he or she  commits  a  specified
     5  offense and either:
     6    (a)  intentionally  selects  the  person  against  whom the offense is
     7  committed or intended to be committed in whole or  in  substantial  part
     8  because  of  a  belief  or  perception  regarding  the  (i) race, color,
     9  national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression,  reli-
    10  gion,  religious  practice,  age,  disability or sexual orientation of a
    11  person or (ii) because of  actual  or  perceived  employment  as  a  law
    12  enforcement  officer,  a  firefighter  or  as emergency medical services
    13  personnel, regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct, or
    14    (b) intentionally commits the act or acts constituting the offense  in
    15  whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding
    16  the  (i) race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity
    17  or expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability  or  sexual
    18  orientation  of  a person or (ii) because of actual or perceived employ-
    19  ment as a law enforcement officer, a firefighter or as emergency medical
    20  services personnel, regardless of whether the belief  or  perception  is
    21  correct.
    22    2.  Proof  of  race,  color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender
    23  identity or expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability or
    24  sexual orientation or employment as a law enforcement officer,  a  fire-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD09116-01-3
        A. 6792                             2

     1  fighter or as emergency medical services personnel of the defendant, the
     2  victim  or  of  both  the  defendant and the victim does not, by itself,
     3  constitute legally sufficient evidence satisfying  the  people's  burden
     4  under paragraph (a) or (b) of subdivision one of this section.
     5    4. For purposes of this section:
     6    (a) the term "age" means sixty years old or more;
     7    (b)  the  term "disability" means a physical or mental impairment that
     8  substantially limits a major life activity;
     9    (c) the term "gender identity or expression" means a  person's  actual
    10  or  perceived gender-related identity, appearance, behavior, expression,
    11  or other gender-related characteristic regardless of the sex assigned to
    12  that person at birth, including, but not limited to, the status of being
    13  transgender;
    14    (d) the term "law enforcement officer" means  any  active  or  retired
    15  city  or  state  law enforcement officer, peace officer, sheriff, deputy
    16  sheriff, probation or parole officer, marshal, deputy, wildlife enforce-
    17  ment agency, county or  state  correctional  officer,  fire  marshal  or
    18  commissioned agent of the department of corrections and community super-
    19  vision,  as  well  as  any  federal law enforcement officer or employee,
    20  whose permanent duties include making  arrests,  performing  search  and
    21  seizures,  execution  of  criminal  arrest  warrants, execution of civil
    22  seizure warrants, any civil functions performed by  sheriffs  or  deputy
    23  sheriffs,  enforcement  of  penal or traffic laws, or the care, custody,
    24  control or supervision of inmates;
    25    (e)  the  term  "firefighter"  means  (i)  any  firefighter  regularly
    26  employed  by  a  fire department of any municipality of the state of New
    27  York and (ii) any volunteer firefighter as defined in subdivision one of
    28  section three of the volunteer firefighters' benefit law; and
    29    (f) the term "emergency medical services personnel" means the  person-
    30  nel  of  a  service  or  agency,  whether  paid or volunteer, engaged in
    31  providing initial emergency medical assistance, including but not limit-
    32  ed to first responders, emergency medical technicians and advanced emer-
    33  gency medical technicians.
    34    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.