STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3967--A
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 1, 2013
___________
Introduced by Sen. ADDABBO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to including the use of a
governmental agency to harass a person within the crime of aggravated
harassment in the first degree
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 240.31 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 49
2 of the laws of 2006, subdivisions 3 and 4 as amended and subdivision 5
3 as added by chapter 74 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as
4 follows:
5 § 240.31 Aggravated harassment in the first degree.
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 a belief or perception regarding such person's race, color, national
9 origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability
10 or sexual orientation, regardless of whether the belief or perception is
11 correct, he or she:
12 1. Damages premises primarily used for religious purposes, or acquired
13 pursuant to section six of the religious corporation law and maintained
14 for purposes of religious instruction, and the damage to the premises
15 exceeds fifty dollars; or
16 2. Commits the crime of aggravated harassment in the second degree in
17 the manner proscribed by the provisions of subdivision three of section
18 240.30 of this article and has been previously convicted of the crime of
19 aggravated harassment in the second degree for the commission of conduct
20 proscribed by the provisions of subdivision three of section 240.30 or
21 he or she has been previously convicted of the crime of aggravated
22 harassment in the first degree within the preceding ten years; or
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00981-04-3
S. 3967--A 2
1 3. Etches, paints, draws upon or otherwise places a swastika, commonly
2 exhibited as the emblem of Nazi Germany, on any building or other real
3 property, public or private, owned by any person, firm or corporation or
4 any public agency or instrumentality, without express permission of the
5 owner or operator of such building or real property;
6 4. Sets on fire a cross in public view; or
7 5. Either (a) unlawfully discloses confidential information concern-
8 ing the person he or she intends to harass, annoy, threaten, or alarm
9 which he or she obtained from a government agency or any political
10 subdivision of the state or municipality, in a manner likely to cause
11 annoyance or alarm; or (b) unlawfully causes personnel employed by a
12 governmental agency or any political subdivision of the state or munici-
13 pality to contact or interact with the person he or she intends to
14 harass, annoy, threaten, or alarm in an official capacity, in a manner
15 likely to cause annoyance or alarm; or
16 6. Etches, paints, draws upon or otherwise places or displays a noose,
17 commonly exhibited as a symbol of racism and intimidation, on any build-
18 ing or other real property, public or private, owned by any person, firm
19 or corporation or any public agency or instrumentality, without express
20 permission of the owner or operator of such building or real property.
21 Aggravated harassment in the first degree is a class E felony.
22 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
23 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
