NY State Senate Bill S4726

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

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

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Actions

view actions (2)

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2020	referred to codes
Mar 22, 2019	referred to codes

Co-Sponsors

S4726 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A3902
Current Committee:: Senate Codes
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §220.00, add §125.24, Pen L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2013-2014: S7657
2015-2016: S4163, A6039
2017-2018: S2761, A3398
2021-2022: S5910, A6314
2023-2024: S7203, A2142

S4726 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Establishes the crime of homicide by sale of an opiate controlled substance; makes such crime a class A-1 felony.

S4726 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

 
BILL NUMBER: S4726

SPONSOR: AMEDORE
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the penal law, in relation to enacting
"Laree's law"

 
PURPOSE:

Establishes the crime of homicide by sale of an opiate controlled
substance.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill provides that the short title of this act shall be
"Laree's Law."

Section 2 adds a new subdivision 21 to Section 220.00 of the penal law
provides the definition of an opiate controlled substance.

Section 3 adds a new section 125.24 to the penal law establishing the
crime pf homicide by sale of an opiate controlled substance and making

it a class A-1 felony.

Section 4: Establishes the effective date of ninety days after it
becomes law.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Every community in New York State has been touched by the opioid crisis.
The losses and impacts due to the crisis have profoundly affected indi-
viduals, families, neighborhoods, small towns, and large cities across
the State and the Nation. According to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC), 115 Americans die every day from opioid overdose.
Since 1999, the CDC estimates over 350,000 people have died from an
opioid overdose; many of those individuals were New Yorkers.

This legislation targets drug dealers who sell drugs to individuals who
die as a result of overdosing on the drugs. Currently, a person who
provides illicit drugs that result in the death of a user can be charged
only with criminal sale of a controlled substance, allowing those
involved in the illicit drug trade to escape prosecution for the deaths
caused by their actions.

This proposed law would hold drug dealers accountable for the true
consequences of their activities and help reduce the availability of
these dangerous drugs on our streets. It would give district attorneys a
tool to pursue the criminals who are responsible for supplying deadly
drugs. Facing the possibility of life imprisonment for selling drugs
would be a powerful disincentive to engaging in illegal drug sales.

This proposal is designed to punish those individuals involved in the
illegal drug trade. It is not intended to punish those individuals who
may jointly and simultaneously acquire and possess illegal drugs for
joint use with someone who dies of an overdose. Someone who shares the
drugs with the victim would still have an incentive to follow the
current Good Samaritan law, and try to save someone who overdoses.

The proposed act is named in memory of Laree Farrell Lincoln, an Albany
County teenager who died of a heroin overdose in 2013 and whose late
mother, Patty Farrell, had been a strong advocate for holding drug deal-
ers accountable for the true cost of their crimes.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2018: S.2761 Passed Senate
2017: S.2761 Passed Senate
2016: S.4163 Passed Senate
2015: S.4163 - Passed Senate
2014: S.7657 - Passed Senate
2013: S.7657 - Passed Senate.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become law.

S4726 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf


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

                                  4726

                       2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             March 22, 2019
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sens.  AMEDORE,  AKSHAR, BOYLE, FUNKE, GALLIVAN, JORDAN,
  O'MARA, ROBACH -- 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 enacting "Laree's law"

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

  Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
"Laree's law".
  § 2. Section 220.00 of the penal law is amended by adding a new subdi-
vision 21 to read as follows:
  21. "OPIATE CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE" MEANS ANY SUBSTANCE LISTED IN SCHED-
ULE  I,  II,  III,  IV  OR  V OF SECTION THIRTY-THREE HUNDRED SIX OF THE
PUBLIC HEALTH LAW THAT IS CLASSIFIED AS EITHER AN OPIATE OR OPIUM DERIV-
ATIVE UNDER SUCH LAW.
  § 3. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 125.24  to  read
as follows:
§ 125.24 HOMICIDE BY SALE OF AN OPIATE CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE.
  A  PERSON  IS  GUILTY  OF  HOMICIDE  BY  SALE  OF AN OPIATE CONTROLLED
SUBSTANCE WHEN HE OR SHE UNLAWFULLY TRANSPORTS  BY  IMPORTING  INTO  THE
STATE  OR TRANSPORTING WITHIN THE STATE FROM ONE COUNTY INTO ANOTHER, OR
UNLAWFULLY SELLS AS DEFINED BY SUBDIVISION ONE OF SECTION 220.00 OF THIS
CHAPTER, AN OPIATE CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE AS DEFINED BY SUBDIVISION  TWEN-
TY-ONE  OF  SECTION  220.00  OF THIS CHAPTER, AND SUCH OPIATE CONTROLLED
SUBSTANCE CAUSES THE DEATH OF ANOTHER PERSON.
  IT SHALL BE A DEFENSE TO HOMICIDE BY  SALE  OF  AN  OPIATE  CONTROLLED
SUBSTANCE  THAT  THE  DEFENDANT  JOINTLY AND SIMULTANEOUSLY ACQUIRED AND
POSSESSED SUCH OPIATE  CONTROLLED  SUBSTANCE  FOR  JOINT  USE  WITH  THE
DECEASED,  WITH THE INTENT TO JOINTLY INJECT, INHALE OR OTHERWISE INGEST
SUCH OPIATE CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE.
  HOMICIDE BY SALE OF AN OPIATE CONTROLLED  SUBSTANCE  IS  A  CLASS  A-I
FELONY.
  §  4.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
have become a law.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD07850-01-9

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The New York State Senate

senate Bill S4726

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

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Co-Sponsors

S4726 (ACTIVE) - Details

S4726 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S4726 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S4726 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

senate Bill S4726

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Your Voice

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Co-Sponsors

S4726 (ACTIVE) - Details

S4726 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S4726 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S4726 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments