Bill Text: NY A02962 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Designates offenses against law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency medical services personnel as hate crimes.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - referred to codes [A02962 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-A02962-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2962--A 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 23, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred 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 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. LBD04281-05-7A. 2962--A 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.