STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10959
IN ASSEMBLY
September 9, 2020
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. LiPetri) --
read once and referred to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to including crimes committed
based on political ideology as a hate crime
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The opening paragraph of section 485.00 of the penal law,
2 as amended by chapter 8 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 The legislature finds and determines as follows: criminal acts involv-
5 ing violence, intimidation and destruction of property based upon bias
6 and prejudice have become more prevalent in New York state in recent
7 years. The intolerable truth is that in these crimes, commonly and
8 justly referred to as "hate crimes", victims are intentionally selected,
9 in whole or in part, because of their race, color, national origin,
10 ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, religious
11 practice, age, disability, political ideology or sexual orientation.
12 Hate crimes do more than threaten the safety and welfare of all citi-
13 zens. They inflict on victims incalculable physical and emotional damage
14 and tear at the very fabric of free society. Crimes motivated by invidi-
15 ous hatred toward particular groups not only harm individual victims but
16 send a powerful message of intolerance and discrimination to all members
17 of the group to which the victim belongs. Hate crimes can and do intim-
18 idate and disrupt entire communities and vitiate the civility that is
19 essential to healthy democratic processes. In a democratic society,
20 citizens cannot be required to approve of the beliefs and practices of
21 others, but must never commit criminal acts on account of them. Current
22 law does not adequately recognize the harm to public order and individ-
23 ual safety that hate crimes cause. Therefore, our laws must be strength-
24 ened to provide clear recognition of the gravity of hate crimes and the
25 compelling importance of preventing their recurrence.
26 § 2. The opening paragraph of section 485.00 of the penal law, as
27 amended by section 2 of part R of chapter 55 of the laws of 2020, is
28 amended to read as follows:
29 The legislature finds and determines as follows: criminal acts involv-
30 ing violence, intimidation and destruction of property based upon bias
31 and prejudice have become more prevalent in New York state in recent
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD17271-01-0
A. 10959 2
1 years. The intolerable truth is that in these crimes, commonly and just-
2 ly referred to as "hate crimes", victims are intentionally selected, in
3 whole or in part, because of their race, color, national origin, ances-
4 try, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, religious prac-
5 tice, age, disability, political ideology or sexual orientation. Hate
6 crimes do more than threaten the safety and welfare of all citizens.
7 They inflict on victims incalculable physical and emotional damage and
8 tear at the very fabric of free society. Crimes motivated by invidious
9 hatred toward particular groups not only harm individual victims but
10 send a powerful message of intolerance and discrimination to all members
11 of the group to which the victim belongs. Hate crimes can and do intim-
12 idate and disrupt entire communities and vitiate the civility that is
13 essential to healthy democratic processes. In a democratic society,
14 citizens cannot be required to approve of the beliefs and practices of
15 others, but must never commit criminal acts on account of them. However,
16 these criminal acts do occur and are occurring more and more frequently.
17 Quite often, these crimes of hate are also acts of terror. The recent
18 attacks in Monsey, New York as well as the shootings in El Paso, Texas;
19 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Sutherland Springs, Texas; Orlando, Florida;
20 and Charleston, South Carolina illustrate that mass killings are often
21 apolitical, motivated by the hatred of a specific group coupled with a
22 desire to inflict mass casualties. The current law emphasizes the poli-
23 tical motivation of an act over its catastrophic effect and does not
24 adequately recognize the harm to public order and individual safety that
25 hate crimes cause. Therefore, our laws must be strengthened to provide
26 clear recognition of the gravity of hate crimes and the compelling
27 importance of preventing their recurrence.
28 § 3. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 485.05 of the penal law, as
29 amended by chapter 8 of the laws of 2019, are amended to read as
30 follows:
31 1. A person commits a hate crime when he or she commits a specified
32 offense and either:
33 (a) intentionally selects the person against whom the offense is
34 committed or intended to be committed in whole or in substantial part
35 because of a belief or perception regarding the race, color, national
36 origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, reli-
37 gious practice, age, disability, political ideology or sexual orien-
38 tation of a person, regardless of whether the belief or perception is
39 correct, or
40 (b) intentionally commits the act or acts constituting the offense in
41 whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding
42 the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or
43 expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability, political
44 ideology or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether the
45 belief or perception is correct.
46 2. Proof of race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender
47 identity or expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability,
48 political ideology or sexual orientation of the defendant, the victim or
49 of both the defendant and the victim does not, by itself, constitute
50 legally sufficient evidence satisfying the people's burden under para-
51 graph (a) or (b) of subdivision one of this section.
52 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
53 section two of this act shall take effect on the same date and in the
54 same manner as section 2 of part R of chapter 55 of the laws of 2020,
55 takes effect.