BILL NUMBER: S7022
SPONSOR: GRIFFO
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing the crime of
making a threat of mass violence
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this legislation is to criminalize threats of mass
violence against schools, colleges and universities, places of worship,
businesses and mass gatherings.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
The bill establishes a new crime of making a threat of mass violence.
Making a threat of mass violence in the second degree applies to indi-
viduals under the age of 18 and carries a fine of $35,000 and a mandato-
ry sentence of ten days in a juvenile detention facility. Individuals
over the age of 18 who make a threat of mass violence against the
school, which they are attending, shall be charged with the same crime
and administered the same punishment as an individual under the age of
18.
Making a threat of mass violence in the first degree will be considered
a class D felony and will apply to anyone 18 years of age or older. The
punishment for this crime is a $35,000 fine and a sentence of no less
than three years in prison.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
There has been a spate of threats of mass violence made in various
communities throughout the state. These threats have resulted in wide-
spread fear and disruption and come at significant cost to the communi-
ties in which the threats are made. The consequences of such threats,
currently, are minor. Anyone who does this needs to understand that
there are real consequences for such actions. This bill will ensure that
individuals making these threats are punished accordingly.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24-S.1603/A6383 - Codes Committee/Codes Committee
2021-22- S. 3829-Codes Committee.
2019-20 - S. 3976 - Codes Committee.
2018- S. 8312 - Codes Committee.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect November 1, 2025.

Statutes affected:
S7022: 80.00 penal law, 80.00(1) penal law