Bill Text: NY A03417 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Designates certain offenses against emergency medical services personnel, firefighters, and law enforcement officers as hate crimes; includes the definition of emergency medical services personnel, firefighters, and law enforcement officers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 26-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to codes [A03417 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A03417-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          3417

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 3, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. DeSTEFANO, WALSH, BRABENEC, MILLER, DURSO, DiPIE-
          TRO,  McDONOUGH,  MORINELLO, MANKTELOW, SMITH -- Multi-Sponsored by --
          M. of A.  J. M. GIGLIO -- 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 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 race, color, national
     9  origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, reli-
    10  gious practice, age, disability,  or  because  of  actual  or  perceived
    11  employment  as  emergency medical services personnel, a firefighter or a
    12  law enforcement officer, or sexual orientation of a  person,  regardless
    13  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 race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender  identity  or
    17  expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability, or because of
    18  actual  or perceived employment as emergency medical services personnel,
    19  a firefighter or a law enforcement officer, or sexual orientation  of  a
    20  person, regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct.
    21    2.  Proof  of  race,  color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender
    22  identity or expression, religion, religious practice,  age,  disability,
    23  or  because  of  actual  or  perceived  employment  as emergency medical

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08198-01-3
        A. 3417                             2

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