Establishes the crime of aggravated offering of a false accusation against a peace officer or police officer for knowingly reporting false or baseless information relating to wrongdoing by a police or peace officer to a law enforcement agency; creates a private right of action for damages.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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9048
IN SENATE
April 12, 2024
___________
Introduced by Sen. SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law and the civil rights law, in relation to
creating the crime of aggravated offering of a false accusation
against a police officer and creating a private right of action
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 240.64 to
2 read as follows:
3 § 240.64 Aggravated offering of a false accusation against a police
4 officer or peace officer.
5 A person is guilty of aggravated offering of a false accusation
6 against a police officer or peace officer when, knowing the information
7 reported to be false or baseless, he or she reports, by word or action,
8 to a law enforcement officer or agency, wrongdoing by a police officer
9 or peace officer in the performance of his or her duties. Under this
10 section, police officer and peace officer are as defined under section
11 1.20 of the criminal procedure law.
12 Aggravated offering of a false accusation against a police officer or
13 peace officer is class D felony.
14 § 2. The civil rights law is amended by adding a new section 50-g to
15 read as follows:
16 § 50-g. Private right of action; false accusation. A police officer
17 or peace officer, or his or her representative, may bring an action to
18 recover damages suffered by reason of a false accusation against such
19 police officer or peace officer in violation of section 240.64 of the
20 penal law. In any action brought under this section, the court may award
21 reasonable attorney's fees to a prevailing plaintiff.
22 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02396-01-3
