Bill Text: NY S08925 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Exempts certain interested parties or people from civil arrest while going to, remaining at, or returning from the place of such court proceeding.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 18-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-06-05 - REFERRED TO RULES [S08925 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-S08925-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8925 IN SENATE June 5, 2018 ___________ Introduced by Sen. ALCANTARA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the civil rights law and the judiciary law, in relation to protecting certain interested parties or people from civil arrest while going to, remaining at, or returning from the place of such court proceeding The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "protect 2 our courts act". 3 § 2. The civil rights law is amended by adding a new section 28 to 4 read as follows: 5 § 28. Civil arrest; certain locations. 1. A person duly and in good 6 faith attending a court proceeding in which such person is a party or 7 potential witness, or a family or household member is a party or poten- 8 tial witness, is privileged from civil arrest while going to, remaining 9 at, and returning from, the place of such court proceeding, unless such 10 civil arrest is supported by a judicial warrant or judicial order 11 authorizing such civil arrest. 12 2. It is a contempt of the court and false imprisonment for any person 13 to willfully violate subdivision one of this section, or an order of the 14 court issued pursuant to section four-a of the judiciary law, by execut- 15 ing an arrest prohibited by subdivision one of this section or section 16 four-a of the judiciary law, or willfully assisting or willfully facili- 17 tating an arrest prohibited by subdivision one of this section or 18 section four-a of the judiciary law; provided, however, that nothing in 19 this subdivision shall affect any right or defense of any person, police 20 officer, peace officer or public officer pursuant to article thirty-five 21 of the penal law. 22 3. Regardless of whether a proceeding for contempt of the court pursu- 23 ant to subdivision two of this section has been initiated: 24 (a) a person described in subdivision one of this section may bring a 25 civil action for appropriate equitable and declaratory relief if such 26 person has reasonable cause to believe a violation of subdivision one of EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD15571-06-8S. 8925 2 1 this section, as described in subdivision two of this section, or a 2 violation of section four-a of the judiciary law, has occurred or may 3 occur; and 4 (b) the attorney general may bring a civil action in the name of the 5 people of the state of New York to obtain appropriate equitable and 6 declaratory relief if the attorney general has reasonable cause to 7 believe that a violation of subdivision one of this section, as 8 described in subdivision two of this section, or a violation of section 9 four-a of the judiciary law, has occurred or may occur. 10 4. In any successful action pursuant to subdivision three of this 11 section, a plaintiff or petitioner may recover costs and reasonable 12 attorney's fees. 13 5. Nothing in this section shall be construed to narrow, or in any way 14 lessen, any common law or other right or privilege of a person privi- 15 leged from arrest pursuant to this article or otherwise. 16 6. As used in this section: 17 (a) "civil arrest" shall mean an arrest that is not: 18 (i) for the sole or primary purpose of preparing the person subject to 19 such arrest for criminal prosecution, for an alleged violation of the 20 criminal law of: 21 (A) this state, or another state, for which a sentence of a term of 22 imprisonment is authorized by law; or 23 (B) the United States, for which a sentence of a term of imprisonment 24 is authorized by law, and for which federal law requires an initial 25 appearance before a federal judge, federal magistrate or other judicial 26 officer, pursuant to the federal rules of criminal procedure that govern 27 initial appearances; or 28 (ii) for contempt of the court in which the court proceeding is taking 29 place or will be taking place; 30 (b) "court proceeding" shall mean any appearance in a court of this 31 state before a judge or justice or judicial magistrate of this state 32 ordered or scheduled by such judge or justice or judicial magistrate, or 33 the filing of papers designed to initiate such an appearance before a 34 judge or justice or judicial magistrate of this state; 35 (c) "family or household member" shall have the same meaning as in 36 subdivision two of section four hundred fifty-nine-a of the social 37 services law; and 38 (d) "judicial warrant or judicial order authorizing such civil arrest" 39 means an arrest warrant or other judicial order, issued by a magistrate 40 sitting in the judicial branch of a local or state government or of the 41 federal government, authorizing a civil arrest and issued by the court 42 in which proceedings following such arrest will be heard and determined. 43 § 3. The judiciary law is amended by adding a new section 4-a to read 44 as follows: 45 § 4-a. Certain powers of the courts regarding civil arrests. In order 46 to maintain access to the court and open judicial proceedings for all 47 persons in their individual capacity and to prevent interference with 48 the needs of judicial administration, a court has the power to issue 49 appropriate judicial orders to protect the privilege from civil arrest, 50 in accordance with article three of the civil rights law. 51 § 4. Subdivision 2 of section 212 of the judiciary law is amended by 52 adding a new paragraph (w) to read as follows: 53 (w) (i) In order to maintain access to the court and open judicial 54 proceedings for all persons in their individual capacity and to prevent 55 interference with the needs of judicial administration, consistent with 56 section twenty-eight of the civil rights law and section four-a of thisS. 8925 3 1 chapter, direct that court personnel responsible for all courthouses and 2 the places of all court proceedings in the state shall not allow access 3 to such courthouses and places of court proceedings to non-local law 4 enforcement personnel seeking to enter such locations with respect to 5 violation or violations of federal immigration law unless presented with 6 a valid judicial warrant or judicial order, and designated counsel of 7 the unified court system has individually reviewed and confirmed in 8 writing the authenticity of such judicial warrant or judicial order. 9 Non-local law enforcement personnel seeking to enter such a location 10 with respect to violation or violations of federal immigration law shall 11 identify themselves and such purpose, and present such judicial warrant 12 or judicial order to such responsible court personnel when seeking such 13 access. The chief administrator shall promulgate rules consistent with 14 this subdivision designed to implement the provisions of this paragraph. 15 (ii) Such rules shall also require that a copy of each judicial 16 warrant and judicial order reviewed by designated counsel of the 17 unified court system under this paragraph be sent to and maintained in a 18 central repository by the chief administrator, who shall on an annual 19 basis compile statistics disaggregated by county and prepare a report 20 of such statistics, and also identify in such report, for each such 21 judicial warrant and judicial order, the date such judicial warrant or 22 judicial order was signed, the judge and court which issued such judi- 23 cial warrant or judicial order and the location of such court as shown 24 by such document, the date such judicial warrant or judicial order was 25 presented to counsel for the unified court system, a description of the 26 type of judicial warrant or judicial order and, to the extent known to 27 court personnel, whether or not an arrest occurred and the date and 28 location of such arrest. Such report, which shall not include the names 29 of individuals involved, shall be published on the website of the 30 unified court system and copies of such report shall be sent to the 31 governor, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary president of the 32 senate. 33 (iii) For purposes of this paragraph, "non-local law enforcement 34 personnel" shall mean a person or persons employed or retained by a law 35 enforcement agency: (A) of a jurisdiction other than the state of New 36 York or a local government in the state of New York; or (B) of the state 37 of New York or a local government in the state of New York, where such 38 law enforcement agency or employee or agent thereof has entered into an 39 agreement with a federal law enforcement agency, including but not 40 limited to pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1373, authorizing it or such person to 41 enforce or assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law. 42 § 5. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi- 43 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of 44 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, 45 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in 46 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section 47 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg- 48 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of 49 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such 50 invalid provisions had not been included herein. 51 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
