NY State Senate Bill S8541

Archive: Last Bill Status - Passed Senate

Introduced
In Committee
On Floor Calendar
- Passed Senate
- Passed Assembly
Delivered to Governor
Signed/Vetoed by Governor

Your Voice

Please enter your contact information

First Name *

Last Name *

Email Address *

A valid email address is required.

Home address search or enter your address manually *

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Leave this field blank

Actions

view actions (7)

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jun 11, 2018	referred to codes delivered to assembly passed senate
Jun 04, 2018	advanced to third reading
May 31, 2018	2nd report cal.
May 30, 2018	1st report cal.1421
May 09, 2018	referred to codes

Votes

view votes

Jun 11, 2018 - floor Vote

S8541

floor

Aye

Nay

Absent

Excused

Abstained

May 30, 2018 - Codes committee Vote

S8541

committee

Aye

Nay

Aye with Reservations

Absent

Excused

Abstained

Co-Sponsors

S8541 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10874
Current Committee:: Assembly Codes
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§120.30 & 125.15, Pen L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S1294, A6509
2021-2022: S2150, A5249
2023-2024: A5565

S8541 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides that a person may be charged with promoting a suicide or manslaughter if he or she is convicted of endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person, an incompetent or physically disabled person and the conduct was the proximate cause of the victim's suicide.

S8541 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

 
BILL NUMBER: S8541

SPONSOR: SERINO
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the penal law, in relation to promot-
ing a suicide and manslaughter in the second degree

 
PURPOSE:

To increase penalties for endangering the welfare of an incompetent or
physical disabled person or a vulnerable elderly person when it signif-
icantly contributes to a victim's suicide attempt.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Adds certain violations related to endangering the welfare of
an incompetent or physical disabled person or a vulnerable elderly
person to the definition of promoting a suicide attempt when such
conduct significantly contributes to the victim's suicide attempt.

Section 2: Adds the same provisions above to the definition of
manslaughter in the second degree.

Section 3: Establishes the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Bailey Bates, a 19-year-old autistic man from Poughkeepsie, New York,
tragically committed suicide in July of 2017 after falling victim to a
financial scam. According to reports, a young woman whom he had known
for years befriended him shortly before the scheme and asked him for
help cashing a check, which ultimately resulted in the young woman and
her accomplice stealing money from an account holding his disability
assistance. When Bailey's family learned of the illegitimate transaction
they contacted law enforcement who began an investigation. Bailey's
family has indicated that he was extremely distraught over this betrayal
of his trust and they believe - with the local law enforcement - that he
did not understand what was happening or that he was a victim in this
case. Tragically, a week after this crime, he took his own life and
based on a note that he left, it was clear he believed he had done some-
thing wrong.

Given the facts of this case, the accused stand only to be charged with
minimal counts of endangerment and grand larceny despite reported crimi-
nal histories and acute knowledge that Bailey was a vulnerable victim.
While no law can bring Bailey back, it is important that people are held
accountable for the outcome of their actions, particularly in cases
where they prey on the most vulnerable. Hopefully with this legislation,
other potential scam artists will think twice about the permanent damage
they can cause not only their victim, but the many friends and loved
ones of those they victimize.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

S8541 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf


                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  8541

                            I N  S E N A T E

                               May 9, 2018
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  SERINO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes

AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to promoting  a  suicide  and
  manslaughter in the second degree

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Section 120.30 of the penal  law  is  amended  to  read  as
follows:
§ 120.30 Promoting a suicide attempt.
  A person is guilty of promoting a suicide attempt when:
  (A)  he  OR SHE intentionally causes or aids another person to attempt
suicide; OR
  (B) HE OR SHE ENDANGERS THE WELFARE OF AN  INCOMPETENT,  A  VULNERABLE
ELDERLY  PERSON  OR A PHYSICALLY DISABLED PERSON AS SET FORTH IN SECTION
260.25, 260.32 OR 260.34 OF THIS CHAPTER AND SUCH CONDUCT  SIGNIFICANTLY
CONTRIBUTED TO THE VICTIM'S SUICIDE ATTEMPT.
  Promoting a suicide attempt is a class E felony.
  § 2. Section 125.15 of the penal law is amended to read as follows:
§ 125.15 Manslaughter in the second degree.
  A person is guilty of manslaughter in the second degree when:
  1. He OR SHE recklessly causes the death of another person; or
  2.  He OR SHE commits upon a female an abortional act which causes her
death, unless such abortional act is justifiable pursuant to subdivision
three of section 125.05; or
  3. He OR SHE intentionally causes or aids  another  person  to  commit
suicide; OR
  4.  HE  OR  SHE  ENDANGERS THE WELFARE OF AN INCOMPETENT, A VULNERABLE
ELDERLY PERSON, OR A PHYSICALLY DISABLED PERSON AS SET FORTH IN  SECTION
260.25,  260.32 OR 260.34 OF THIS CHAPTER AND SUCH CONDUCT SIGNIFICANTLY
CONTRIBUTED TO THE VICTIM'S SUICIDE.
  Manslaughter in the second degree is a class C felony.
  § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD15789-01-8

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

The New York State Senate

senate Bill S8541

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - Passed Senate

Your Voice

Actions

Votes

Jun 11, 2018 - floor Vote

Floor Vote: Jun 11, 2018

May 30, 2018 - Codes committee Vote

Codes Committee Vote: May 30, 2018

Co-Sponsors

S8541 (ACTIVE) - Details

S8541 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S8541 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S8541 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

senate Bill S8541

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Sue Serino

Archive: Last Bill Status - Passed Senate

Your Voice

Actions

Votes

Jun 11, 2018 - floor Vote

Floor Vote: Jun 11, 2018

May 30, 2018 - Codes committee Vote

Codes Committee Vote: May 30, 2018

Co-Sponsors

William J. Larkin, Jr.

Michael H. Ranzenhofer

James L. Seward

James Tedisco

S8541 (ACTIVE) - Details

S8541 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S8541 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S8541 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments