Bill Text: NY A10959 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Includes crimes committed based on political ideology as a hate crime.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-09-09 - referred to codes [A10959 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A10959-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10959

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    September 9, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. LiPetri) --
          read once and referred to the Committee on Codes

        AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to including crimes committed
          based on political ideology as a hate crime

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

     1    Section  1.  The opening paragraph of section 485.00 of the penal law,
     2  as amended by chapter 8 of the laws of  2019,  is  amended  to  read  as
     3  follows:
     4    The legislature finds and determines as follows: criminal acts involv-
     5  ing  violence,  intimidation and destruction of property based upon bias
     6  and prejudice have become more prevalent in New  York  state  in  recent
     7  years.    The  intolerable  truth  is that in these crimes, commonly and
     8  justly referred to as "hate crimes", victims are intentionally selected,
     9  in whole or in part, because of  their  race,  color,  national  origin,
    10  ancestry,  gender,  gender  identity  or expression, religion, religious
    11  practice, age, disability, political  ideology  or  sexual  orientation.
    12  Hate  crimes  do  more than threaten the safety and welfare of all citi-
    13  zens. They inflict on victims incalculable physical and emotional damage
    14  and tear at the very fabric of free society. Crimes motivated by invidi-
    15  ous hatred toward particular groups not only harm individual victims but
    16  send a powerful message of intolerance and discrimination to all members
    17  of the group to which the victim belongs. Hate crimes can and do  intim-
    18  idate  and  disrupt  entire communities and vitiate the civility that is
    19  essential to healthy democratic  processes.  In  a  democratic  society,
    20  citizens  cannot  be required to approve of the beliefs and practices of
    21  others, but must never commit criminal acts on account of them.  Current
    22  law  does not adequately recognize the harm to public order and individ-
    23  ual safety that hate crimes cause. Therefore, our laws must be strength-
    24  ened to provide clear recognition of the gravity of hate crimes and  the
    25  compelling importance of preventing their recurrence.
    26    §  2.  The  opening  paragraph  of section 485.00 of the penal law, as
    27  amended by section 2 of part R of chapter 55 of the  laws  of  2020,  is
    28  amended to read as follows:
    29    The legislature finds and determines as follows: criminal acts involv-
    30  ing  violence,  intimidation and destruction of property based upon bias
    31  and prejudice have become more prevalent in New  York  state  in  recent

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD17271-01-0
        A. 10959                            2

     1  years. The intolerable truth is that in these crimes, commonly and just-
     2  ly  referred to as "hate crimes", victims are intentionally selected, in
     3  whole or in part, because of their race, color, national origin,  ances-
     4  try,  gender,  gender  identity or expression, religion, religious prac-
     5  tice, age, disability, political ideology or  sexual  orientation.  Hate
     6  crimes  do  more  than  threaten the safety and welfare of all citizens.
     7  They inflict on victims incalculable physical and emotional  damage  and
     8  tear  at  the very fabric of free society. Crimes motivated by invidious
     9  hatred toward particular groups not only  harm  individual  victims  but
    10  send a powerful message of intolerance and discrimination to all members
    11  of  the group to which the victim belongs. Hate crimes can and do intim-
    12  idate and disrupt entire communities and vitiate the  civility  that  is
    13  essential  to  healthy  democratic  processes.  In a democratic society,
    14  citizens cannot be required to approve of the beliefs and  practices  of
    15  others, but must never commit criminal acts on account of them. However,
    16  these criminal acts do occur and are occurring more and more frequently.
    17  Quite  often,  these  crimes of hate are also acts of terror. The recent
    18  attacks in Monsey, New York as well as the shootings in El Paso,  Texas;
    19  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania;  Sutherland Springs, Texas; Orlando, Florida;
    20  and Charleston, South Carolina illustrate that mass killings  are  often
    21  apolitical,  motivated  by the hatred of a specific group coupled with a
    22  desire to inflict mass casualties. The current law emphasizes the  poli-
    23  tical  motivation  of  an  act over its catastrophic effect and does not
    24  adequately recognize the harm to public order and individual safety that
    25  hate crimes cause. Therefore, our laws must be strengthened  to  provide
    26  clear  recognition  of  the  gravity  of  hate crimes and the compelling
    27  importance of preventing their recurrence.
    28    § 3. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section  485.05  of  the  penal  law,  as
    29  amended  by  chapter  8  of  the  laws  of  2019, are amended to read as
    30  follows:
    31    1. A person commits a hate crime when he or she  commits  a  specified
    32  offense and either:
    33    (a)  intentionally  selects  the  person  against  whom the offense is
    34  committed or intended to be committed in whole or  in  substantial  part
    35  because  of  a  belief or perception regarding the race, color, national
    36  origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, reli-
    37  gious practice, age, disability, political  ideology  or  sexual  orien-
    38  tation  of  a  person, regardless of whether the belief or perception is
    39  correct, or
    40    (b) intentionally commits the act or acts constituting the offense  in
    41  whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding
    42  the  race,  color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or
    43  expression, religion, religious  practice,  age,  disability,  political
    44  ideology  or  sexual  orientation of a person, regardless of whether the
    45  belief or perception is correct.
    46    2. Proof of race, color, national  origin,  ancestry,  gender,  gender
    47  identity  or  expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability,
    48  political ideology or sexual orientation of the defendant, the victim or
    49  of both the defendant and the victim does  not,  by  itself,  constitute
    50  legally  sufficient  evidence satisfying the people's burden under para-
    51  graph (a) or (b) of subdivision one of this section.
    52    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided,  however,  that
    53  section  two  of  this act shall take effect on the same date and in the
    54  same manner as section 2 of part R of chapter 55 of the  laws  of  2020,
    55  takes effect.