Add Part 4 Title Y SS485.00 - 485.10, amd SS240.30, 240.31 & 240.00, Pen L; amd S200.50, CP L;amd S837, Exec
L
Enacts the "hate crimes act of 2000"; provides that the commission of certain specified crimes which are committed in whole or substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, age, disability or sexual orientation of an individual shall be punishable as hate crimes.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4691--A
1999-2000 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 16, 1999
___________
Introduced by Sens. GOODMAN, LACK, HOFFMANN, SPANO -- (at request of the
Governor) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be
committed to the Committee on Codes -- recommitted to the Committee on
Codes in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the penal law and the executive law, in relation to hate
crimes
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 "hate
2 crimes act of 2000".
3 § 2. Part 4 of the penal law is amended by adding a new title Y to
4 read as follows:
5 TITLE Y
6 HATE CRIMES ACT OF 2000
7 ARTICLE 485
8 HATE CRIMES
9 Section 485.00 Legislative findings.
10 485.05 Hate crimes.
11 485.10 Sentencing.
12 § 485.00 Legislative findings.
13 The legislature finds and determines as follows: criminal acts involv-
14 ing violence, intimidation and destruction of property based upon bias
15 and prejudice have become more prevalent in New York state in recent
16 years. The intolerable truth is that in these crimes, commonly and
17 justly referred to as "hate crimes", victims are intentionally selected,
18 in whole or in part, because of their race, color, national origin,
19 ancestry, gender, religion, age, disability or sexual orientation. Hate
20 crimes do more than threaten the safety and welfare of all citizens.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD12005-07-0
S. 4691--A 2
1 They inflict on victims incalculable physical and emotional damage and
2 tear at the very fabric of free society. Hate crimes can and do intim-
3 idate and disrupt entire communities and vitiate the civility that is
4 essential to healthy democratic processes. In a democratic society,
5 citizens cannot be required to approve of the beliefs and practices of
6 others, but must never commit criminal acts on account of them. Current
7 law does not adequately recognize the harm to public order and individ-
8 ual safety that hate crimes cause. Therefore, our laws must be
9 strengthened to provide clear recognition of the gravity of hate crimes
10 and the compelling importance of preventing their recurrence.
11 Accordingly, the legislature finds and declares that hate crimes
12 should be prosecuted and punished with appropriate severity.
13 § 485.05 Hate crimes.
14 1. A person commits a hate crime when he or she commits a specified
15 offense and either:
16 (a) intentionally selects the person against whom the offense is
17 committed or intended to be committed in whole or in substantial part
18 because of a belief or perception regarding the race, color, national
19 origin, ancestry, gender, religion, age, disability or sexual orien-
20 tation of a person, regardless of whether the belief or perception is
21 correct, or
22 (b) intentionally commits the act or acts constituting the offense in
23 whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding
24 the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, age, disa-
25 bility or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether the
26 belief or perception is correct.
27 2. Proof of race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion,
28 age, disability or sexual orientation of the defendant, the victim or of
29 both the defendant and the victim does not, by itself, constitute legal-
30 ly sufficient evidence satisfying the people's burden under paragraph
31 (a) or (b) of subdivision one of this section.
32 3. A "specified offense" is an offense defined by any of the following
33 provisions of this chapter: section 120.00 (assault in the third
34 degree); section 120.05 (assault in the second degree); section 120.10
35 (assault in the first degree); section 120.12 (aggravated assault upon a
36 person less than eleven years old); section 120.13 (menacing in the
37 first degree); section 120.14 (menacing in the second degree); section
38 120.15 (menacing in the third degree); section 120.20 (reckless endan-
39 germent in the second degree); section 120.25 (reckless endangerment in
40 the first degree); subdivision one of section 125.15 (manslaughter in
41 the second degree); subdivision one, two or four of section 125.20
42 (manslaughter in the first degree); section 125.25 (murder in the second
43 degree); subdivision one of section 130.35 (rape in the first degree);
44 subdivision one of section 130.50 (sodomy in the first degree); subdivi-
45 sion one of section 130.65 (sexual abuse in the first degree); paragraph
46 (a) of subdivision one of section 130.67 (aggravated sexual abuse in the
47 second degree); paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section 130.70
48 (aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree); section 135.05 (unlawful
49 imprisonment in the second degree); section 135.10 (unlawful imprison-
50 ment in the first degree); section 135.20 (kidnapping in the second
51 degree); section 135.25 (kidnapping in the first degree); section 135.60
52 (coercion in the second degree); section 135.65 (coercion in the first
53 degree); section 140.10 (criminal trespass in the third degree); section
54 140.15 (criminal trespass in the second degree); section 140.17 (crimi-
55 nal trespass in the first degree); section 140.20 (burglary in the third
56 degree); section 140.25 (burglary in the second degree); section 140.30
S. 4691--A 3
1 (burglary in the first degree); section 145.00 (criminal mischief in the
2 fourth degree); section 145.05 (criminal mischief in the third degree);
3 section 145.10 (criminal mischief in the second degree); section 145.12
4 (criminal mischief in the first degree); section 150.05 (arson in the
5 fourth degree); section 150.10 (arson in the third degree); section
6 150.15 (arson in the second degree); section 150.20 (arson in the first
7 degree); section 155.25 (petit larceny); section 155.30 (grand larceny
8 in the fourth degree); section 155.35 (grand larceny in the third
9 degree); section 155.40 (grand larceny in the second degree); section
10 155.42 (grand larceny in the first degree); section 160.05 (robbery in
11 the third degree); section 160.10 (robbery in the second degree);
12 section 160.15 (robbery in the first degree); section 240.25 (harassment
13 in the first degree); subdivision one, two or four of section 240.30
14 (aggravated harassment in the second degree); or any attempt or conspir-
15 acy to commit any of the foregoing offenses.
16 4. For purposes of this section:
17 (a) the term "age" means sixty years old or more;
18 (b) the term "disability" means a physical or mental impairment that
19 substantially limits a major life activity.
20 § 485.10 Sentencing.
21 1. When a person is convicted of a hate crime pursuant to this arti-
22 cle, and the specified offense is a violent felony offense, as defined
23 in section 70.02 of this chapter, the hate crime shall be deemed a
24 violent felony offense.
25 2. When a person is convicted of a hate crime pursuant to this article
26 and the specified offense is a misdemeanor or a class C, D or E felony,
27 the hate crime shall be deemed to be one category higher than the speci-
28 fied offense the defendant committed, or attempted or conspired to
29 commit.
30 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when a person is
31 convicted of a hate crime pursuant to this article and the specified
32 offense is a class B felony:
33 (a) the maximum term of the indeterminate sentence must be at least
34 six years if the defendant is sentenced pursuant to section 70.00 of
35 this chapter;
36 (b) the term of the determinate sentence must be at least eight years
37 if the defendant is sentenced pursuant to section 70.02 of this chapter;
38 (c) the term of the determinate sentence must be at least twelve years
39 if the defendant is sentenced pursuant to section 70.04 of this chapter;
40 (d) the maximum term of the indeterminate sentence must be at least
41 four years if the defendant is sentenced pursuant to section 70.05 of
42 this chapter; and
43 (e) the maximum term of the indeterminate sentence or the term of the
44 determinate sentence must be at least ten years if the defendant is
45 sentenced pursuant to section 70.06 of this chapter.
46 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when a person is
47 convicted of a hate crime pursuant to this article and the specified
48 offense is a class A-1 felony, the minimum period of the indeterminate
49 sentence shall be not less than twenty years.
50 § 3. Subdivision 3 of section 240.30 of the penal law, as amended by
51 chapter 345 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
52 3. Strikes, shoves, kicks, or otherwise subjects another person to
53 physical contact, or attempts or threatens to do the same because of
54 [the] a belief or perception regarding such person's race, color, [reli-
55 gion or] national origin [of such person], ancestry, gender, religion,
S. 4691--A 4
1 age, disability or sexual orientation, regardless of whether the belief
2 or perception is correct; or
3 § 4. The opening paragraph of section 240.31 of the penal law, as
4 amended by chapter 958 of the laws of 1983, is amended to read as
5 follows:
6 A person is guilty of aggravated harassment in the first degree when
7 with intent to harass, annoy, threaten or alarm another person, because
8 of [the] a belief or perception regarding such person's race, color,
9 [religion or] national origin [of such person], ancestry, gender, reli-
10 gion, age, disability or sexual orientation, regardless of whether the
11 belief or perception is correct, he or she:
12 § 5. Section 240.00 of the penal law is amended by adding two new
13 subdivisions 5 and 6 to read as follows:
14 5. "Age" means sixty years old or more.
15 6. "Disability" means a physical or mental impairment that substan-
16 tially limits a major life activity.
17 § 6. Section 837 of the executive law is amended by adding a new
18 subdivision 4-c to read as follows:
19 4-c. In cooperation with the chief administrator of the courts as well
20 as any other public or private agency, collect and analyze statistical
21 and all other information and data with respect to the number of hate
22 crimes reported or known to the division of state police, and all other
23 police or peace officers, the number of persons arrested for the commis-
24 sion of such crimes, the offense for which the person was arrested, the
25 county within which the arrest was made and the accusatory instrument
26 filed, the disposition of the accusatory instrument filed, including,
27 but not limited to, as the case may be, dismissal, acquittal, the
28 offense to which the defendant pled guilty, the offense the defendant
29 was convicted of after trial, and the sentence imposed.
30 § 7. This act shall take effect 90 days after it shall have become a
31 law.
