Bill Text: NY A02069 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Establishes the crime of aggravated offering of a false accusation against a peace officer or police officer for knowingly reporting false or baseless information relating to wrongdoing by a police or peace officer to a law enforcement agency; creates a private right of action for damages.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to codes [A02069 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A02069-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          2069

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 23, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. STERN, PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to
          the Committee on Codes

        AN  ACT  to amend the penal law and the civil rights law, in relation to
          creating the crime  of  aggravated  offering  of  a  false  accusation
          against a police officer and creating a private right of action

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

     1    Section 1. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 240.64  to
     2  read as follows:
     3  § 240.64 Aggravated  offering  of  a  false  accusation against a police
     4             officer or peace officer.
     5    A person is guilty  of  aggravated  offering  of  a  false  accusation
     6  against  a police officer or peace officer when, knowing the information
     7  reported to be false or baseless, he or she reports, by word or  action,
     8  to  a  law enforcement officer or agency, wrongdoing by a police officer
     9  or peace officer in the performance of his or her duties.    Under  this
    10  section,  police  officer and peace officer are as defined under section
    11  1.20 of the criminal procedure law.
    12    Aggravated offering of a false accusation against a police officer  or
    13  peace officer is class D felony.
    14    §  2.  The civil rights law is amended by adding a new section 50-g to
    15  read as follows:
    16    § 50-g. Private right of action; false accusation.   A police  officer
    17  or  peace  officer, or his or her representative, may bring an action to
    18  recover damages suffered by reason of a false  accusation  against  such
    19  police  officer  or  peace officer in violation of section 240.64 of the
    20  penal law. In any action brought under this section, the court may award
    21  reasonable attorney's fees to a prevailing plaintiff.
    22    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02396-01-3