STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 176 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. JACKSON, SALAZAR, BAILEY, BRISPORT, BROUK, CLEARE, COMRIE, COONEY, FERNANDEZ, GIANARIS, GONZALEZ, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, KAVANAGH, KRUEGER, LIU, MAY, MYRIE, RAMOS, RIVERA, SANDERS, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Government Operations AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to providing a civil action for deprivation of rights The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The civil rights law is amended by adding a new section 2 79-r to read as follows: 3 § 79-r. Civil action for deprivation of rights. 1. (a) A person or 4 public entity acting under color of law that subjects or causes to be 5 subjected any other person to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, 6 or immunities secured by the federal or state Constitution or laws, is 7 liable to the injured party for legal or equitable relief or any other 8 appropriate relief. For the purposes of this section, a public entity 9 subjects, or causes to be subjected, any person to the deprivation of 10 any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the federal or state 11 Constitution or laws, by employing any person who violates this section. 12 (b) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, in any action 13 brought pursuant to this section or the New York human rights law, a 14 court shall award reasonable attorney fees and costs to a prevailing 15 plaintiff. For the purposes of this section, the term "prevailing" 16 includes a plaintiff whose commencement of litigation has acted as a 17 catalyst to effect change in the defendant's conduct, regardless of 18 whether that change has been implemented as a result of a judgment in 19 such plaintiff's favor. When a judgment is entered in favor of a defend- 20 ant, the court may award reasonable costs and attorney fees to the 21 defendant only for defending any claims the court finds frivolous. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00968-01-5S. 176 2 1 2. (a) If a person or public entity acting under color of law that 2 subjects or causes to be subjected any other person to the deprivation 3 of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the federal or state 4 Constitution or laws, the attorney general may bring a civil action for 5 legal or equitable relief or other proper redress. The civil action 6 shall be brought in the name of the state and may be brought on behalf 7 of the injured party. A civil action brought by the attorney general 8 shall not foreclose an injured party from bringing their own civil 9 action for legal or equitable relief or other proper redress. A civil 10 action brought by an injured party shall not foreclose the attorney 11 general from bringing a civil action for legal or equitable relief or 12 other proper redress. 13 (b) If the attorney general prevails in an action brought pursuant to 14 this section, the court shall order the distribution of any award of 15 damages to the injured party. 16 3. (a) Statutory immunities and statutory limitations on liability, 17 damages or attorney fees do not apply to claims brought pursuant to this 18 section. 19 (b) It shall not be a defense or immunity to any action brought for 20 the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the 21 federal or state Constitution and laws, that such defendant was acting 22 in good faith, or that the defendant believed, reasonably or otherwise, 23 that their conduct was lawful at the time such conduct was committed. 24 Nor shall it be a defense or immunity that the rights, privileges, or 25 immunities secured by the federal or state Constitution or laws were not 26 clearly established at the time of their deprivation by the defendant, 27 or that the state of the law was otherwise such that the defendant could 28 not reasonably have been expected to know whether their conduct was 29 lawful. 30 4. A civil action pursuant to this section shall be commenced within 31 three years after the cause of action accrues. 32 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a public entity shall 33 indemnify its public employee for any liability incurred by the employee 34 and for any judgment entered against the employee for claims arising 35 under this section. 36 6. For the purpose of this section, "public entity" shall mean the 37 state, any county, city and county, municipality, and every other poli- 38 tical subdivision of the state; and any private entity that engages in 39 state action. 40 7. The immunity granted pursuant to subdivision one of section twen- 41 ty-four of the correction law shall not extend to actions brought pursu- 42 ant to this section. 43 8. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including but not 44 limited to subdivision two of section twenty-four of the correction law, 45 actions brought pursuant to this section may be commenced in any court 46 of competent jurisdiction, including the supreme court. 47 § 2. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi- 48 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of 49 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, 50 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in 51 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section 52 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg- 53 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of 54 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such 55 invalid provisions had not been included herein. 56 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.