Assembly Bill A5991

Signed By Governor
2019-2020 Legislative Session

Requires awarding of costs and attorney fees in frivolous action involving public petition and participation

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - Signed by Governor


  • Introduced
    • In Committee Assembly
    • In Committee Senate
    • On Floor Calendar Assembly
    • On Floor Calendar Senate
    • Passed Assembly
    • Passed Senate
  • Delivered to Governor
  • Signed By Governor

Do you support this bill?

Please enter your contact information

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.
Actions

Bill Amendments

co-Sponsors

2019-A5991 - Details

See Senate Version of this Bill:
S52
Law Section:
Civil Rights Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §§70-a & 76-a, Civ Rts L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:
2011-2012: A10594
2013-2014: A856, S7280
2015-2016: A258, S1638
2017-2018: A1413, A5292, S68, S2183

2019-A5991 - Summary

Requires awarding of costs and attorney fees in frivolous actions involving public petition and participation; expands application of actions involving public petition and participation.

2019-A5991 - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5991
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 26, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. WEINSTEIN, SEAWRIGHT, ABINANTI, LUPARDO, SIMOTAS,
   TAYLOR -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
 
 AN  ACT  to amend the civil rights law, in relation to actions involving
   public petition and participation
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 70-a of the civil
 rights  law,  as added by chapter 767 of the laws of 1992, is amended to
 read as follows:
   (a) costs and attorney's fees [may] SHALL be recovered upon  a  demon-
 stration,  INCLUDING AN ADJUDICATION PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION (G) OF RULE
 THIRTY-TWO HUNDRED ELEVEN OR SUBDIVISION (H) OF RULE THIRTY-TWO  HUNDRED
 TWELVE  OF  THE  CIVIL PRACTICE LAW AND RULES, that the action involving
 public petition and participation was commenced or continued  without  a
 substantial  basis  in  fact  and  law  and  could not be supported by a
 substantial argument for the  extension,  modification  or  reversal  of
 existing law;
   §  2.  Subdivision 1 of section 76-a of the civil rights law, as added
 by chapter 767 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
   1. For purposes of this section:
   (a) An "action involving public petition  and  participation"  is  [an
 action,]  A  claim[,  cross  claim  or  counterclaim for damages that is
 brought by a public applicant or permittee, and is materially related to
 any efforts of the defendant to report on, comment on,  rule  on,  chal-
 lenge or oppose such application or permission] BASED UPON:
   (1)  ANY COMMUNICATION IN A PLACE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC OR A PUBLIC FORUM
 IN CONNECTION WITH AN ISSUE OF PUBLIC CONCERN; OR
   (2) ANY OTHER LAWFUL CONDUCT IN FURTHERANCE OF  THE  EXERCISE  OF  THE
 CONSTITUTIONAL  RIGHT  OF  FREE  SPEECH  IN  CONNECTION WITH AN ISSUE OF
 PUBLIC CONCERN, OR IN FURTHERANCE OF THE EXERCISE OF THE  CONSTITUTIONAL
 RIGHT OF PETITION.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

co-Sponsors

2019-A5991A (ACTIVE) - Details

See Senate Version of this Bill:
S52
Law Section:
Civil Rights Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §§70-a & 76-a, Civ Rts L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:
2011-2012: A10594
2013-2014: A856, S7280
2015-2016: A258, S1638
2017-2018: A1413, A5292, S68, S2183

2019-A5991A (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires awarding of costs and attorney fees in frivolous actions involving public petition and participation; expands application of actions involving public petition and participation.

2019-A5991A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  5991--A
                                                         Cal. No. 226
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 26, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. WEINSTEIN, SEAWRIGHT, ABINANTI, LUPARDO, SIMOTAS,
   TAYLOR,  STECK -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
   -- ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted,  retain-
   ing its place on the order of third reading

 AN  ACT  to amend the civil rights law, in relation to actions involving
   public petition and participation; and to amend the civil practice law
   and rules, in relation to stay of proceedings
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 70-a of the civil
 rights  law,  as added by chapter 767 of the laws of 1992, is amended to
 read as follows:
   (a) costs and attorney's fees [may] SHALL be recovered upon  a  demon-
 stration,  INCLUDING AN ADJUDICATION PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION (G) OF RULE
 THIRTY-TWO HUNDRED ELEVEN OR SUBDIVISION (H) OF RULE THIRTY-TWO  HUNDRED
 TWELVE  OF  THE  CIVIL PRACTICE LAW AND RULES, that the action involving
 public petition and participation was commenced or continued  without  a
 substantial  basis  in  fact  and  law  and  could not be supported by a
 substantial argument for the  extension,  modification  or  reversal  of
 existing law;
   §  2.  Subdivision 1 of section 76-a of the civil rights law, as added
 by chapter 767 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
   1. For purposes of this section:
   (a) An "action involving public petition  and  participation"  is  [an
 action,]  A  claim[,  cross  claim  or  counterclaim for damages that is
 brought by a public applicant or permittee, and is materially related to
 any efforts of the defendant to report on, comment on,  rule  on,  chal-
 lenge or oppose such application or permission] BASED UPON:
   (1)  ANY COMMUNICATION IN A PLACE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC OR A PUBLIC FORUM
 IN CONNECTION WITH AN ISSUE OF PUBLIC INTEREST; OR
   (2) ANY OTHER LAWFUL CONDUCT IN FURTHERANCE OF  THE  EXERCISE  OF  THE
 CONSTITUTIONAL  RIGHT  OF  FREE  SPEECH  IN  CONNECTION WITH AN ISSUE OF
 PUBLIC INTEREST, OR IN FURTHERANCE OF THE EXERCISE OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL
              

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.

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