STATE OF NEW YORK
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335
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sen. AKSHAR -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to designating offenses
against law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency medical
services personnel 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 (i) the race, color,
9 national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age,
10 disability or sexual orientation of a person or (ii) because of actual
11 or perceived employment as a law enforcement officer, a firefighter or
12 as emergency medical services personnel, regardless of whether the
13 belief or perception 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 (i) the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, reli-
17 gious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person or
18 (ii) because of actual or perceived employment as a law enforcement
19 officer, a firefighter or as emergency medical services personnel,
20 regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct.
21 2. Proof of race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion,
22 religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation or employment
23 as a law enforcement officer, a firefighter or as emergency medical
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05181-01-9
S. 335 2
1 services personnel of the defendant, the victim or of both the defendant
2 and the victim does not, by itself, constitute legally sufficient
3 evidence satisfying the people's burden under paragraph (a) or (b) of
4 subdivision one of this section.
5 4. For purposes of this section:
6 (a) the term "age" means sixty years old or more;
7 (b) the term "disability" means a physical or mental impairment that
8 substantially limits a major life activity[.];
9 (c) the term "law enforcement officer" means any active or retired
10 city or state law enforcement officer, peace officer, sheriff, deputy
11 sheriff, probation or parole officer, marshal, deputy, wildlife enforce-
12 ment agency, county or state correctional officer, fire marshal or
13 commissioned agent of the department of corrections and community super-
14 vision, as well as any federal law enforcement officer or employee,
15 whose permanent duties include making arrests, performing search and
16 seizures, execution of criminal arrest warrants, execution of civil
17 seizure warrants, any civil functions performed by sheriffs or deputy
18 sheriffs, enforcement of penal or traffic laws, or the care, custody,
19 control or supervision of inmates;
20 (d) the term "firefighter" means (i) any firefighter regularly
21 employed by a fire department of any municipality of the state of New
22 York and (ii) any volunteer firefighter as defined in subdivision one of
23 section three of the volunteer firefighters' benefit law; and
24 (e) the term "emergency medical services personnel" means the person-
25 nel of a service or agency, whether paid or volunteer, engaged in
26 providing initial emergency medical assistance, including but not limit-
27 ed to first responders, emergency medical technicians and advanced emer-
28 gency medical technicians.
29 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
