NY State Senate Bill 2021-S8181

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance 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

Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
May 04, 2022	reported and committed to finance
Mar 17, 2022	notice of committee consideration - requested
Jan 31, 2022	referred to codes

Votes

- May 2, 2022 - Codes Committee Vote
  S8181
  
  Aye
  
  6
  
  Nay
  
  5
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  2
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  
  0
  - - Codes Committee Vote: May 2, 2022
      
      aye (6)
      
      Akshar
      
      Gallivan
      
      Kaminsky
      
      O'Mara
      
      Palumbo
      
      Savino
      
      nay (5)
      
      Bailey
      
      Biaggi
      
      Brisport
      
      Kavanagh
      
      Myrie
      
      aye wr (2)
      
      Cooney
      
      Sepúlveda

co-Sponsors

View additional co-sponsors

2021-S8181 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A9381
Current Committee:: Senate Finance
Law Section:: Criminal Procedure Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§510.10, 530.20 & 530.40, CP L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2023-2024: S4570, A5070
2025-2026: S18, S1748, A6074

2021-S8181 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Authorizes bail and pre-trial detention for all arson felonies.

2021-S8181 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8181

SPONSOR: MARTUCCI
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to securing
orders for principals charged with arson felony offenses

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To add felony arson in the third degree and the fourth degree to the
list of bail eligible offenses

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. This act shall be known as "Billy's Law"

Section 2. Adds felony arson in the third and fourth degree to the list
of bail eligible offenses

Section 3. Adds conforming language to section 530.20 of the CPL

Section 4. Adds conforming language to section 530.40 of the CPL

Section 5. Sets forth the effective date

 
JUSTIFICATION:

On January 15th, 2022, Forestburgh Assistant Fire Chief William "Billy"
Steinberg was tragically killed while responding to a fire in the Town
of Thompson in Sullivan County. He was just 37 years old.  This bill is
named in his honor.

Mohammed Islam, a resident of Brooklyn, was later charged with setting
the blaze that led to Billy's death. He broke into the home and inten-
tionally started the fire in a dresser drawer. He has been charged with
second-degree burglary and fourth degree arson.

The problem is, Mr. Islam should not have been free to set this fire in
the first place. He had already been charged with two previous arsons,
and due to the State's bail laws, he was not eligible to be assigned
bail and was therefore released and free to commit the crime that led to
Billy Steinberg's death. This should never have been allowed to happen.

This legislation adds arson in the third degree and arson in the fourth
degree (both felonies) to the list of offenses eligible for bail. There
is no question had this law been in place that the fire that led to
Billy Steinberg's death would not have happened because the perpetrator
would have been assigned bail and held in custody.

The purpose of this bill is to bring a measure of justice for Billy
Steinberg and his family and to prevent further needless deaths, by
ensuring that our judges have the proper tools to protect our communi-
ties from dangerous arsonists.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately

2021-S8181 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8181
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 31, 2022
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. MARTUCCI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
 
 AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure  law,  in  relation  to  securing
   orders for principals charged with arson felony offenses
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "Billy's law".
   § 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
 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, any of the underlying crimes need not be
 a qualifying offense as defined in this subdivision[.]; OR
   (U) ARSON IN THE FOURTH DEGREE AS DEFINED IN SECTION 150.05  OR  ARSON
 IN THE THIRD DEGREE AS DEFINED IN SECTION 150.10 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
 subparagraph (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
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD14531-01-2
 S. 8181                             2
 
 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) ARSON IN THE FOURTH DEGREE AS DEFINED IN SECTION 150.05 OR ARSON
 IN THE THIRD DEGREE AS DEFINED IN SECTION 150.10 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, any of the underlying crimes need not be
 a qualifying offense as defined in this subdivision[.]; OR
   (u) arson in the fourth degree as defined in section 150.05  or  arson
 in the third degree as defined in section 150.10 of the penal law.
   §  5.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
 have become a law.

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.

Find your Senator and share your views on important issues.

Do you support this bill?

Senate Bill S8181

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance Committee

Actions

Votes

May 2, 2022 - Codes Committee Vote

Codes Committee Vote: May 2, 2022

co-Sponsors

2021-S8181 (ACTIVE) - Details

2021-S8181 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S8181 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2021-S8181 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Do you support this bill?

Get Status Alerts for 2021-S8181

Senate Bill S8181

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance Committee

Actions

Votes

co-Sponsors

2021-S8181 (ACTIVE) - Details

2021-S8181 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S8181 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2021-S8181 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments