NY State Senate Bill 2021-S6945

Senate Bill S6945

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Relates to creating the crime of unlawful dissemination or publication of discovery material

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

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

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

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

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 05, 2022	referred to codes
May 20, 2021	referred to codes

2021-S6945 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Codes
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Add §215.09, Pen L; amd §§510.10, 530.20 & 530.40, CP L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S9018
2023-2024: S5340
2025-2026: S4634

2021-S6945 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Creates the crime of unlawful dissemination or publication of discovery material; defines the circumstances under which a person is guilty of such crime; establishes that such crime is a class E felony.

2021-S6945 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S6945

SPONSOR: SERINO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law and the criminal procedure law, in
relation to creating the crime of unlawful dissemination or publication
of discovery material

 
PURPOSE:

To prevent the unlawful dissemination or publication of discovery mate-
rial.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Amends the penal law by establishing the crime of unlawful
dissemination or publication of discovery material as a class E felony.
A person is guilty of such crime when he or she intentionally dissem-
inates or publishes discovery material with the intent of intimidating
or harassing another person, or disseminates or publishes such material
to another person he or she knew or reasonably should have known

intended to use such material to intimidate or harass another person.
Provides an exemption for a defense counsel communicating directly with
the defendant in accordance with Article 245 of the Criminal Procedure
Law.

Section 2: Provides that unlawful dissemination or publication of
discovery material shall be a qualifying offense for the purpose of
subdivision 4 of Section 510.10 of the Criminal Procedure Law to grant
courts the discretion to fix bail or commit the principal to custody of
the sheriff.

Section 3: Provides similar provisions to that of Section 2 of this act
for local criminal courts.

Section 4: Provides similar provisions to that of Section 2 of this act
for superior courts.

Section 5:  Provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In the summer of 2020, videos posted online by an unknown individual
depicting an interview by a law enforcement officer of an alleged
participant in a shooting about a slew of criminal activities-with one
of the videos receiving more than 30,000 views.  These videos were
required to be turned over to the defense attorney by the local district
attorney's office due to reforms passed by New York State in 2019
regarding the criminal discovery process.

Although the criminal discovery reforms provided for protective orders
in an attempt to prevent the abuse of information received during
discovery, concerns were still raised that protective orders would not
be sufficient to protect the safety of witnesses who come forward in
criminal investigations. As evidenced by the leaked videos from this
summer-these concerns were founded. In fact, while shootings were up 87%
in New York City last year, for example, NYPD members have said that
they are having trouble getting cooperating witnesses to come forward.
This inability to produce witnesses is attributed in part by some to the
changes in discovery laws and the lack of protections provided to
witnesses. This has a chilling effect on the ability of law enforcement
to identify criminals and prevent them from further contributing to the
spike in violence that we have seen this year.

This legislation would establish the crime of unlawful dissemination or
publication of discovery material. A person would be guilty of this if
he or she intentionally disseminates or publishes discovery material
with the intent of intimidating or harassing another person, or dissem-
inates or publishes such material to another person he or she knew or
reasonably should have known intended to do so.  Furthermore, unlawful
dissemination or publication of discovery material would be classified
as a class E felony, as well as a qualifying offense for the purpose of
allowing courts the discretion to set bail or keep the defendant in
custody.

For our criminal justice system to work, it is absolutely essential that
we can protect those who bravely come forward to speak out crimes which
they have witnesses. Currently, many New Yorkers feel that is not the
case, and enacting this legislation would be a critical step toward
ensuring them that their safety is a top priority.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2020: S9018 Referred to Rules

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2021-S6945 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6945
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 20, 2021
                                ___________
 
 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  and  the  criminal  procedure  law,  in
   relation  to  creating the crime of unlawful dissemination or publica-
   tion of discovery material

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 215.09 to
 read as follows:
 § 215.09 UNLAWFUL DISSEMINATION OR PUBLICATION OF DISCOVERY MATERIAL.
   1. A PERSON IS GUILTY OF  UNLAWFUL  DISSEMINATION  OR  PUBLICATION  OF
 DISCOVERY MATERIAL, WHEN HE OR SHE:
   A.  INTENTIONALLY  DISSEMINATES  OR  PUBLISHES  MATERIAL DEFINED UNDER
 SECTION 245.20 OF THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE LAW WITH THE INTENT  OF  INTIM-
 IDATING OR HARASSING ANOTHER PERSON; OR
   B.  INTENTIONALLY  DISSEMINATES  OR  PUBLISHES  MATERIAL DEFINED UNDER
 SECTION 245.20 OF THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE LAW TO ANOTHER PERSON AND HE OR
 SHE KNEW OR REASONABLY SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT THE PERSON INTENDED TO USE
 THE DISCOVERY MATERIAL TO INTIMIDATE OR HARASS ANOTHER PERSON.
   2. A PERSON WHO IS THE DEFENSE COUNSEL  TO  A  DEFENDANT  IN  A  LEGAL
 PROCEEDING SHALL NOT BE GUILTY OF AN OFFENSE UNDER PARAGRAPH B OF SUBDI-
 VISION ONE OF THIS SECTION, WHEN COMMUNICATING DIRECTLY WITH THE DEFEND-
 ANT  IN  ACCORDANCE  WITH ARTICLE TWO HUNDRED FORTY-FIVE OF THE CRIMINAL
 PROCEDURE LAW.
   3. UNDER THIS SECTION, "DISSEMINATES" AND "PUBLISHES" SHALL  HAVE  THE
 SAME MEANINGS AS UNDER SECTION 250.40 OF THIS PART.
   UNLAWFUL DISSEMINATION OR PUBLICATION OF DISCOVERY MATERIAL IS A CLASS
 E FELONY.
   §  2. Paragraphs (s) and (t) of subdivision 4 of section 510.10 of the
 criminal procedure law, as added by section 2 of part UU of  chapter  56
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD08046-01-1

 S. 6945                             2
 
 of  the  laws  of  2020, are amended and a new paragraph (u) is added to
 read as follows:
   (s)  a  felony,  where  the defendant qualifies for sentencing on such
 charge as a persistent felony offender pursuant to section 70.10 of  the
 penal law; [or]
   (t)  any  felony or class A misdemeanor involving harm to an identifi-
 able person or property, where such charge arose from conduct  occurring
 while  the  defendant  was  released  on  his or her own recognizance or
 released under conditions for a separate felony or class  A  misdemeanor
 involving harm to an identifiable person or property, provided, however,
 that  the  prosecutor  must  show  reasonable  cause to believe that the
 defendant committed the instant crime and any underlying crime. For  the
 purposes  of this [subparagraph] PARAGRAPH, any of the underlying crimes
 need not be a qualifying offense as defined in this subdivision[.]; OR
   (U) UNLAWFUL DISSEMINATION OR PUBLICATION  OF  DISCOVERY  MATERIAL  AS
 DEFINED IN SECTION 215.09 OF THE PENAL LAW.
   § 3. Subparagraphs (xix) and (xx) of paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of
 section 530.20 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by section 3 of
 part UU of chapter 56 of the laws of 2020, are amended and a new subpar-
 agraph (xxi) is added to read as follows:
   (xix)  a  felony, where the defendant qualifies for sentencing on such
 charge as a persistent felony offender pursuant to section 70.10 of  the
 penal law; [or]
   (xx)  any felony or class A misdemeanor involving harm to an identifi-
 able person or property, where such charge arose from conduct  occurring
 while  the  defendant  was  released  on  his or her own recognizance or
 released under conditions for a separate felony or class  A  misdemeanor
 involving harm to an identifiable person or property, provided, however,
 that  the  prosecutor  must  show  reasonable  cause to believe that the
 defendant committed the instant crime and any underlying crime. For  the
 purposes  of this subparagraph, any of the underlying crimes need not be
 a qualifying offense as defined in this subdivision[.]; OR
   (XXI) UNLAWFUL DISSEMINATION OR PUBLICATION OF DISCOVERY  MATERIAL  AS
 DEFINED IN SECTION 215.09 OF THE PENAL LAW.
   §  4. Paragraphs (s) and (t) of subdivision 4 of section 530.40 of the
 criminal procedure law, as added by section 4 of part UU of  chapter  56
 of  the  laws  of  2020, are amended and a new paragraph (u) is added to
 read as follows:
   (s) a felony, where the defendant qualifies  for  sentencing  on  such
 charge  as a persistent felony offender pursuant to section 70.10 of the
 penal law; [or]
   (t) any felony or class A misdemeanor involving harm to  an  identifi-
 able  person or property, where such charge arose from conduct occurring
 while the defendant was released on  his  or  her  own  recognizance  or
 released  under  conditions for a separate felony or class A misdemeanor
 involving harm to an identifiable person or property, provided, however,
 that the prosecutor must show  reasonable  cause  to  believe  that  the
 defendant  committed the instant crime and any underlying crime. For the
 purposes of this [subparagraph] PARAGRAPH, any of the underlying  crimes
 need not be a qualifying offense as defined in this subdivision[.]; OR
   (U)  UNLAWFUL  DISSEMINATION  OR  PUBLICATION OF DISCOVERY MATERIAL AS
 DEFINED IN SECTION 215.09 OF THE PENAL LAW.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.

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.