BILL NUMBER: S5348
SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to repeated instances of
harassment
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this legislation is to ensure repeat offenders are
charged in accordance with the compounded results of their recidivism.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 5 of section 240.30 of the penal law to
include instances of repeat harassment as a charge of aggravated harass-
ment in the second degree and harassment in the first degree.
Section 2 sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Recidivism for harassment can lead to dangerous situations for public
safety in our communities. In some cases, offenders will repeat their
crimes with different victims, and victimizing different individuals
should not negate the severity of the crime itself when the offender has
been previously charged for the same crime. According to the New York
State Division of Criminal Justice Services, the most common hate crime
charges were aggravated harassment, which made up 43.6% of arrests in
2021, with 5% being repeat offenders.' Given the most than substantial
increase in hate crimes over the last few years, this issue must be
addressed for victims of harassment that is based upon the foundation of
racism, antisemitism, islamophobia, homophobia, or other characteristic
as defined by state law. This legislation assures that a person who has
a pattern of multiple instances of harassment can be prosecuted appro-
priately.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S8904/ A7928 of 2024
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become a law.

Statutes affected:
S5348: 240.30 penal law, 240.30(5) penal law, 240.25 penal law