BILL NUMBER: S283
SPONSOR: RHOADS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to designating offenses
against law enforcement officers as hate crimes and makes graffiti a
hate crime
 
PURPOSE:
To add law enforcement officers as a protected class against hate crimes
while also adding graffiti to the list of "specific offenses" which when
committed - with the requisite animus - invoke a hate crime.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends Section 485.05 of the penal law to include individuals
who are "of actual or perceived employment as a law enforcement officer"
as a class of persons protected under hate crimes.
Section 2 amends Section 485.05 of the penal law, as amended by section
3 of part R of chapter 55 of the laws of 2020, to include the act of
making graffiti as a specified offense.
Section 3 provides the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
As hate crimes are certain "regular" crimes committed with a specific
animus and prejudice against a class of individuals, and since law
enforcement officers are routinely targeted by prejudicial treatment
despite their duties as protectors of the health and safety of our citi-
zenry, it is imperative that said officers are included as a class of
persons protected by hate crime laws. Law enforcement officials encount-
er assaults on their persons solely because of their status as an offi-
cer, and this is the kind of specifically motivated attack which hate
crimes are designed to more effectively deter and punish.
Graffiti and public threatening speech have been used to intimate class-
es of persons for decades now, and it is time that we recognize this and
include graffiti in the list of possible offenses which can invoke a
hate crime as well.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
None to the State.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately and in conjunction with section 3 of Part R of chapter 55 of
the laws of 2020.

Statutes affected:
S283: 485.05 penal law, 485.05(3) penal law