Bill Text: NY A04987 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

New York Assembly Bill 4987 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

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 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - referred to codes [A04987 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A04987-Introduced.html




                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          4987

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 10, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. STERN -- 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.
                                                                   LBD06795-01-1