Establishes the "Malcom X unsolved civil rights crime act"; requires the assistant attorney of the civil rights bureau to investigate violations of criminal civil rights statutes that occurred not later than December thirty-first, nineteen seventy-nine, and resulted in a death.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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5068--A
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 23, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sens. SANDERS, BRISPORT, MYRIE, RIVERA -- read twice and
ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on
Finance -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing the
"Malcolm X unsolved civil rights crime act of 2022"; making an appro-
priation therefor; and providing for the repeal of such provisions
upon expiration thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "Malcolm X unsolved civil rights crime act of 2022".
3 § 2. Legislative findings and purpose. The legislature finds that all
4 authorities with jurisdiction, including the department of law and the
5 division of state police, should (i) expeditiously investigate unsolved
6 civil rights murders, due to the amount of time that has passed since
7 the murders and the age of potential witnesses; and (ii) provide all the
8 resources necessary to ensure timely and thorough investigations in the
9 cases involved with such.
10 § 3. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 68 to read
11 as follows:
12 § 68. Civil rights investigations. 1. The assistant attorney general
13 of the civil rights bureau shall be responsible for investigating
14 violations of criminal civil rights statutes that occurred not later
15 than December thirty-first, nineteen hundred seventy-nine, and resulted
16 in a death.
17 2. When investigating such complaints, the assistant attorney general
18 may coordinate the investigative activities with state and local law
19 enforcement officials.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03212-03-1
S. 5068--A 2
1 3. The attorney general shall annually conduct a study of the cases
2 under the jurisdiction of the assistant attorney general of the civil
3 rights bureau.
4 (a) Such study shall include:
5 (i) the number of open investigations within the department of law for
6 violations of criminal civil rights statutes that occurred not later
7 than December thirty-first, nineteen hundred seventy-nine;
8 (ii) the number of new cases opened pursuant to this section since the
9 previous year's study;
10 (iii) the number of unsealed federal, state and local cases charged
11 within the study period, including the case names, the jurisdiction in
12 which the charges were brought, and the date the charges were filed;
13 (iv) the number of cases referred by the department of law to a state
14 or local law enforcement agency or prosecutor within the study period,
15 the number of such cases that resulted in state charges being filed, the
16 jurisdiction in which such charges were filed, the date such charges
17 were filed, and whether or not a jurisdiction declined to prosecute or
18 participate in an investigation of a case so referred;
19 (v) the number of cases within the study period that were closed with-
20 out federal, state, or local prosecution, the case names of unsealed
21 federal, state and local cases, the dates such cases were closed, and
22 the relevant federal, state and local statutes;
23 (vi) the number of attorneys who worked, in whole or in part, on any
24 case that qualifies under subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph; and
25 (vii) the number of requests by state and local law enforcement for
26 additional funds to investigate matters under this section in accordance
27 with subdivision four of this section, the amount of such requests, if
28 such requests were fulfilled and the purposes for which such requested
29 money was expended.
30 (b) No later than six months after the effective date of this section
31 and every year thereafter, the attorney general shall prepare a report
32 with the information collected under paragraph (a) of this subdivision
33 of this section and submit such report to the governor, the temporary
34 president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly.
35 4. Out of monies appropriated to investigate and prosecute violations
36 of criminal civil rights statutes under this section, up to one million
37 dollars may be allocated to state and local law enforcement agencies for
38 expenses associated with such investigations.
39 5. For the purposes of this section, criminal civil rights statutes
40 shall include:
41 (a) section 241 of title 18 of the United States Code, relating to
42 conspiracy against rights;
43 (b) section 242 of title 18 of the United States Code, relating to
44 deprivation of rights under color of law;
45 (c) section 245 of title 18 of the United States Code, relating to
46 federally protected activities;
47 (d) sections 1581 and 1584 of title 18 of the United States Code,
48 relating to involuntary servitude and peonage;
49 (e) section 901 (42 U.S.C. 3631) of the federal Fair Housing Act of
50 1988; and
51 (f) any other federal law that (i) was in effect on or before December
52 thirty-first, nineteen hundred seventy-nine; and (ii) the criminal
53 section of the civil rights division of the department of justice
54 enforced, before the effective date of this section.
55 § 4. The sum of two million dollars ($2,000,000), or so much thereof
56 as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated every fiscal year to the
S. 5068--A 3
1 department of law out of any moneys in the state treasury in the general
2 fund to the credit of the civil rights bureau, not otherwise appropri-
3 ated, and made immediately available, for the purpose of carrying out
4 the provisions of this act. Such moneys shall be payable on the audit
5 and warrant of the comptroller on vouchers certified or approved.
6 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be
7 deemed repealed twelve years after such date.
