Bill Text: NY A10543 | 2015-2016 | 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 11-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-05-31 - referred to codes [A10543 Detail]

Download: New_York-2015-A10543-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          10543
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                      May 31, 2016
                                       ___________
        Introduced by M. of A. MURRAY -- 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  added  by  chapter  107  of the laws of 2000, 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, religion, religious practice, age, disability,
    10  or because of  actual  or  perceived  employment  as  emergency  medical
    11  services personnel, a firefighter or a law enforcement officer, or sexu-
    12  al  orientation of a person, regardless of whether the belief or percep-
    13  tion 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, religion, religious
    17  practice, age, disability, or because of actual or perceived  employment
    18  as emergency medical services personnel, a firefighter or a law enforce-
    19  ment  officer,  or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether
    20  the belief or perception is correct.
    21    2. Proof of race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender,  religion,
    22  religious  practice,  age, disability, or because of actual or perceived
    23  employment as emergency medical services personnel, a firefighter  or  a
    24  law  enforcement  officer,  or  sexual orientation of the defendant, the
    25  victim or of both the defendant and the  victim  does  not,  by  itself,
    26  constitute  legally  sufficient  evidence satisfying the people's burden
    27  under paragraph (a) or (b) of subdivision one of this section.
    28    4. For purposes of this section:
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD15707-01-6
        A. 10543                            2
     1    (a) the term "age" means sixty years old or more;
     2    (b)  the  term "disability" means a physical or mental impairment that
     3  substantially limits a major life activity;
     4    (c) the term "emergency  medical  services  personnel"  means  persons
     5  trained  and  certified  or  licensed to provide emergency medical care,
     6  whether on a paid or volunteer basis, as part of a basic life support or
     7  advanced life support pre-hospital emergency care service or in an emer-
     8  gency department or pediatric critical  care  or  specialty  unit  in  a
     9  licensed hospital;
    10    (d) the term "firefighter" means any firefighter regularly employed by
    11  a fire department of any municipality of the state of New York; and
    12    (e)  the  term  "law  enforcement officer" means any active or retired
    13  city or state law enforcement officer, peace  officer,  sheriff,  deputy
    14  sheriff, probation or parole officer, marshal, deputy, wildlife enforce-
    15  ment  agency,  state  correctional officer, or commissioned agent of the
    16  department of corrections and community  supervision,  as  well  as  any
    17  federal  law  enforcement  officer  or  employee, whose permanent duties
    18  include making arrests, performing search  and  seizures,  execution  of
    19  criminal arrest warrants, execution of civil seizure warrants, any civil
    20  functions performed by sheriffs or deputy sheriffs, enforcement of penal
    21  or  traffic  laws,  or  the  care,  custody,  control  or supervision of
    22  inmates.
    23    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.