Senate Bill S8973

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S8973

SPONSOR: GIANARIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to enacting the
"New York no citizen is above the law act"

 
PURPOSE:

To prevent an individual holding the office of president of the United
States from employing stall tactics to have the statute of limitations
expire on a crime he or she allegedly committed, thereby obstructing
justice.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill titles the bill the "New York no citizen is
above the law act."

Section two of the bill adds paragraph (c) to subdivision 4 of § 30.10
              

of the criminal procedure law to not include in the calculating of the
time limitation applicable to the commencement of a criminal action any
period wherein the defendant was entitled to immunity from prosecution
because of his or her entitlement to full, partial, or qualified immuni-
ty by virtue of his or her holding the office of president of the United
States.

Section three of the bill adds § 207-a to the civil practice law and
rules to state that where a defendant is entitled to immunity from the
commencement of an action in the courts of the state as a result of his
or her entitlement to full, partial or qualified immunity by virtue of
holding the office of president of the United States, the time that
elapses between the commencement of the period of the immunity and the
termination of the period of the immunity is not a part of the time
within which the action must be commenced.

Section four of the bill provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Under the Constitution, the President of the United States is immune to
arrest. The US Department of Justice's interpretation of the Constitu-
tion is that a sitting president cannot be indicted. This puts the
person holding the office of president in a unique position which is not
afforded to any other citizen. This interpretation allows a sitting
President to escape responsibility for unlawful actions by running out
the statute of limitations on potential charges by the time they leave
office.

Enactment of the New York No Citizen is Above the Law Act will ensure
that this tenet holds true in New York as it should in the entire United
States which will toll the statute of limitations for the full period a
president's tenure in the office of president.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately and shall apply to all criminal actions and civil court
actions occurring on, before and after such effective date.