Bill Text: NY A09076 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Amended

New York Assembly Bill 9076

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Establishes a right of action for the deprivation of constitutional rights; provides for compensatory damages, punitive damages, injunctive and declaratory relief, and reasonable attorney's fees.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 35)

Status: (Introduced) 2026-03-06 - print number 9076b [A09076 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-A09076-Amended.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         9076--A

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                   September 12, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  ROMERO, RAGA, SHRESTHA, LEE -- read once and
          referred to the Committee on Judiciary -- committee  discharged,  bill
          amended,  ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
          tee

        AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to  enacting  the  New
          York Civil Rights Act

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the  "New  York
     2  Civil Rights Act".
     3    §  2.  The  civil rights law is amended by adding a new article 8-A to
     4  read as follows:
     5                                  ARTICLE 8-A
     6                         THE NEW YORK CIVIL RIGHTS ACT
     7  Section 85. Action for deprivation of constitutional rights.
     8    § 85. Action for deprivation of constitutional rights.  1. Legislative
     9  intent. The people of the State of New York must be guaranteed  meaning-
    10  ful  remedies,  including  but not limited to those provided through the
    11  courts, when their constitutional rights  are  violated.  Recent  United
    12  States  Supreme  Court decisions have curtailed the availability of such
    13  remedies under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, repeatedly  declining
    14  to  extend  damages  actions to new contexts and leaving many victims of
    15  constitutional violations without recourse.   Concurrently, the  Federal
    16  Tort  Claims  Act  (FTCA),  as amended by the Westfall Act, provides the
    17  exclusive avenue for many common-law  damages  actions  against  federal
    18  officers acting within the scope of their employment. These developments
    19  have  created  a  significant  remedial  void for New Yorkers injured by
    20  unconstitutional conduct.
    21    Therefore, the legislature finds it necessary to provide an avenue for
    22  claims for damages against any federal, state, or local  official,  who,
    23  acting  under  color  of  any  federal,  state, or local law, deprives a

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13560-11-5

        A. 9076--A                          2

     1  person of rights secured by the United States Constitution.   The  West-
     2  fall  Act  explicitly  carves  out  from the FTCA's exclusive purview "a
     3  civil action against an employee of the Government which is brought  for
     4  a  violation  of  the  Constitution  of  the United States." 28 U.S.C. §
     5  2679(b)(2)(A). The plain text of this provision contains  no  limitation
     6  on  the  scope  of  constitutional violations carved out from the FTCA's
     7  exclusive  purview,  recognizing  the  well-established  principle  that
     8  government  agents  act  outside of the scope of their offices when they
     9  violate the Constitution. The legislature intends for  this  statute  to
    10  fall squarely within that provision.
    11    This  article  does  not, nor is intended to, usurp federal authority.
    12  Nor does it discriminate against federal officials. This statute  under-
    13  scores  the  supremacy  of the federal Constitution by ensuring that its
    14  guarantees remain enforceable for all New Yorkers  against  all  persons
    15  acting  under  color of any law. From the Founding era through the nine-
    16  teenth century, courts regularly entertained  state  law  suits  against
    17  federal officers who exceeded lawful authority. Nothing in the Constitu-
    18  tion,  federal  statutes, or United States Supreme Court precedent fore-
    19  closes such actions today. The legislature  thus  finds  that  New  York
    20  State  may  properly  act  to  safeguard  its  residents' constitutional
    21  rights.
    22    The intent of this statute  is  to  restore  a  meaningful  avenue  of
    23  accountability  consistent  with federal supremacy, sovereignty, and the
    24  long-standing principle that rights must be paired with remedies.
    25    2. Definition. As used in this section, "color of  any  law,  statute,
    26  ordinance,  regulation, custom, or usage" includes color of any statute,
    27  ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of the United States and of any
    28  State or Territory or District of Columbia.
    29    3. Liability. Any person who, under color of any law,  statute,  ordi-
    30  nance,   regulation,  custom,  or  usage,  subjects,  or  causes  to  be
    31  subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person  within  the
    32  jurisdiction  thereof  to  the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or
    33  immunities secured by the Constitution of the United  States,  shall  be
    34  liable  to  the  party  injured  in an action at law, suit in equity, or
    35  other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any  action  brought
    36  against  a  judicial  officer for an act or omission taken in such offi-
    37  cer's judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be  granted  unless
    38  declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable.
    39    4.  Immunity Defenses. (a) Official immunity. A defendant in an action
    40  under this section may assert a defense of absolute or qualified immuni-
    41  ty to the same extent as a person sued under 42 U.S.C. 1983  under  like
    42  circumstances.
    43    (b)  Sovereign Immunity. Nothing in this section shall be construed to
    44  waive or abrogate any defense or sovereign immunity otherwise  available
    45  to a party.
    46    5.  Remedies.  In any action brought under this section, the court may
    47  award:
    48    (a) compensatory damages, including damages  for  emotional  distress,
    49  pain and suffering, and other non-economic damages;
    50    (b)  punitive  damages  where  the violation is found to be malicious,
    51  wanton, willful, or in reckless disregard of the plaintiff's rights;
    52    (c) injunctive and declaratory relief;
    53    (d) reasonable attorneys' fees and costs to  a  prevailing  plaintiff;
    54  and
    55    (e) expert fees as part of the reasonable attorneys' fees.

        A. 9076--A                          3

     1    6.  Severability.  If any provision of this section or the application
     2  of the person or circumstance is held invalid,  the  remainder  of  this
     3  section  and  the  application  of  the provision to any other person or
     4  circumstance shall not be affected by that invalidation.
     5    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.