Senate Bill S440

                                BILL NUMBER:S440

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the penal law, in relation to prohibiting the dissemination of
depictions of animal cruelty

PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to outlaw the dissemination and possession
of videos which depict animal cruelty, including those known as crush
videos by making such dissemination a class D felony.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Establishes that a person is guilty of disseminating a depiction of
animal cruelty when he or she knowingly promotes such a depiction.

Defines "depiction of animal cruelty" as any visual depiction which
shows an animal being intentionally tortured, maimed, or mutilated.

Provides for an exemption for hunting videos.

Establishes that disseminating a depiction of animal cruelty is a
class D felony.

JUSTIFICATION:
Animal crush videos are videos that depict a woman, typically in bare
              

feet or high heels, slowly crushing a small animal (such as a puppy,
kitten, bunny, or mouse) to death. In some, the woman's voice can be
heard talking to the animals in a dominatrix pattern as the squeaks
and cries of the animal are also audible. Though the actions depicted
in animal crush videos are illegal under animal cruelty statutes, it
is virtually impossible to prosecute such offenses due to the fact
that the individuals shown are rarely identifiable.

The Supreme Court of the United States recently struck down a law
which outlawed the creation, sale, or possession of certain
depictions of animal cruelty on the grounds that the statute
infringed on the first amendment right to free speech. However, the
court also noted that in its
decision, it did not "decide whether a statute limited to crush videos
or other depictions of extreme animal cruelty would be
unconstitutional," noting that the overturned law was simply too
broad and would have applied to any video which showed the killing of
an animal, including hunting videos.

This bill is much narrower than the federal statute which was
overturned, and would outlaw the dissemination of only certain
depictions of animal cruelty. This bill would only apply to
depictions of animal cruelty that are illegal and depict a living
animal that is tortured, maimed or mutilated. It provides an
exemption for hunting videos (which are commonly used for
instruction) as well as those videos which are of religious,
political, scientific, educational, journalistic, historical, or
artistic value.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:


2010: S.7812B/A.11161B

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act takes effect on the first November next succeeding the date
it shall have become law.