NY State Senate Bill 2021-S9136

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Children And Families 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

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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
May 10, 2022	referred to children and families

2021-S9136 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10481
Current Committee:: Senate Children And Families
Law Section:: Family Court Act
Laws Affected:: Amd §812, Fam Ct Act
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: S2571, A3558

2021-S9136 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Adds additional offenses where there is concurrent jurisdiction of criminal and family courts; defines "unreciprocated offensive contact".

2021-S9136 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S9136

SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the family court act, in relation to concurrent juris-
diction of criminal and family courts

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To modernize the jurisdiction of family court while allowing for orders
of protection in an increased number of scenarios.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one amends subdivision one of section 812 of the Family Court
Act to add new offenses to the jurisdiction of family court while creat-
ing a new paragraph (f) to provide for instances of unreciprocated
offensive contact.

Section two sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In New York State's Unified Court System, each county and New York City
has a designated family court which hears cases involving children and
families as well as persons who have been in an "intimate relationship,"
which is defined by factors such as the nature and duration of the
relationship and frequency of interactions. "Casual acquaintance" and
"ordinary fraternization" between two individuals is explicitly placed
outside of the jurisdiction of family court under Section 812 of the
Family Court Act.

Section 812 also establishes a list of crimes for which family court and
criminal courts share jurisdiction, such as unlawful dissemination or
publication of an intimate image, harassment, identity theft, coercion,
stalking, and a range of other offenses, and establishes a pathway by
which victims either related to or at any time in an intimate relation-
ship with their perpetrator can obtain an order of protection for imme-
diate relief. The law fails to account, however, for the ways in which
technology has dramatically altered our lives and relationships. Not
only has the digital revolution enabled an entirely new type of criminal
behavior, such as revenge porn, "upskirting," or taking sexually intru-
sive photographs or videos without permission, online stalking, and
more, but it has also altered the way we discover and define new
relationships. Nowadays a young person may be just as likely to be
harmed by a jealous ex with whom they cohabitated, for example, as some-
one they've met through an online chat room or went on one date with via
an app. Furthermore, social media celebrities who attain worldwide fame
virtually overnight through channels such as TikTok, Instagram, and
YouTube may find themselves besieged by digital fans in a way that was
inconceivable a generation ago.

This bill adds certain new crimes to the jurisdiction of family court
while establishing an additional circumstance for which relief may be
sought through the court. Under this bill a petitioner subject to a
pattern of "unreciprocated offensive contact" by a respondent may peti-
tion family court for an order of protection despite not being related
or at any point married to or sharing a child or intimate relationship
with the respondent. Unreciprocated offensive contact is broadly defined
but includes factors such as lack of consent, the volume and frequency
of unwanted communications, and their threatening or harassing nature.
This language in a new paragraph (f) aims to capture the new set of
criminal behaviors enabled by the Internet as well as the ways in which
it has anonymized relationships between perpetrators and their victims.
Furthermore, while orders of protection for many of the crimes overseen
by family court can also be obtained through criminal court, this
requires an arrest by law enforcement which is not guaranteed. Addi-
tionally, investigations and prosecutions through criminal court are
frequently too slow-moving for victims of cybercrimes or other behaviors
seeking immediate relief.

This bill, if passed, would allow family court to immediately mandate
that perpetrators of certain harassing behaviors cease all contact with
their victims without a prerequisite arrest. While many if not all of
the crimes listed in the Family Court Act involve some element of crimi-
nality and may be likely to be prosecuted, this bill allows victims to
petition a judge for immediate relief while a more slower-moving prose-
cution unfolds. The sponsor believes that placing this new set of behav-
ioral patterns under the jurisdiction of family court, which already has
the infrastructure and victims services in place to process such cases,
is the best way to protect victims of harassment in the digital age.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

None

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

TBD

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate

2021-S9136 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9136
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 10, 2022
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families
 
 AN  ACT  to amend the family court act, in relation to concurrent juris-
   diction of criminal and family courts
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.  Subdivision  1 of section 812 of the family court act, as
 amended by chapter 326 of the laws of 2008,  the  opening  paragraph  as
 amended  by  chapter  109  of  the  laws  of 2019, is amended to read as
 follows:
   1. Jurisdiction.  The family court and the criminal courts shall  have
 concurrent  jurisdiction over any proceeding concerning acts which would
 constitute disorderly conduct, unlawful dissemination or publication  of
 an  intimate  image, UNLAWFUL SURVEILLANCE IN THE FIRST DEGREE, UNLAWFUL
 SURVEILLANCE IN THE SECOND DEGREE, UNLAWFUL SURVEILLANCE  IN  THE  THIRD
 DEGREE,  DISSEMINATION  OF  UNLAWFUL  SURVEILLANCE  IN THE FIRST DEGREE,
 DISSEMINATION OF UNLAWFUL SURVEILLANCE IN THE  SECOND  DEGREE,  CRIMINAL
 IMPERSONATION  IN THE SECOND DEGREE, COMPUTER TRESPASS, UNAUTHORIZED USE
 OF A COMPUTER, harassment in the first degree, harassment in the  second
 degree,  aggravated  harassment in the second degree, sexual misconduct,
 forcible touching, sexual abuse in the third degree, sexual abuse in the
 second degree as set forth in subdivision one of section 130.60  of  the
 penal  law, stalking in the first degree, stalking in the second degree,
 stalking in the third degree, stalking in the  fourth  degree,  criminal
 mischief,  menacing  in the second degree, menacing in the third degree,
 reckless endangerment, criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circu-
 lation, strangulation in the second degree, strangulation in  the  first
 degree,  assault  in  the second degree, assault in the third degree, an
 attempted assault, identity theft in the first degree, identity theft in
 the second degree, identity theft in the third degree, grand larceny  in
 the  fourth  degree,  grand larceny in the third degree, coercion in the
 second degree or coercion in the third degree as set forth  in  subdivi-
 sions  one,  two  and  three  of section 135.60 of the penal law between
 spouses or former spouses,  or  between  parent  and  child  or  between
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD14488-03-2
 S. 9136                             2
 
 members  of  the  same family or household except that if the respondent
 would not be criminally responsible by reason of age pursuant to section
 30.00 of the penal law, then  the  family  court  shall  have  exclusive
 jurisdiction  over  such  proceeding.    Notwithstanding a complainant's
 election to proceed in family court, the criminal  court  shall  not  be
 divested of jurisdiction to hear a family offense proceeding pursuant to
 this  section. In any proceeding pursuant to this article, a court shall
 not deny an order of protection, or dismiss a petition,  solely  on  the
 basis that the acts or events alleged are not relatively contemporaneous
 with the date of the petition, the conclusion of the fact-finding or the
 conclusion  of  the dispositional hearing. For purposes of this article,
 "disorderly conduct" includes disorderly conduct not in a public  place.
 For  purposes of this article, "members of the same family or household"
 shall mean the following:
   (a) persons related by consanguinity or affinity;
   (b) persons legally married to one another;
   (c) persons formerly married to one another regardless of whether they
 still reside in the same household;
   (d) persons who have a child in  common  regardless  of  whether  such
 persons have been married or have lived together at any time; [and]
   (e)  persons  who are not related by consanguinity or affinity and who
 are or have been in an intimate relationship regardless of whether  such
 persons  have lived together at any time. Factors the court may consider
 in determining whether a  relationship  is  an  "intimate  relationship"
 include  but  are  not  limited  to: the nature or type of relationship,
 regardless of whether the relationship is sexual in nature; the frequen-
 cy of interaction between the persons; and the duration of the relation-
 ship. Neither a casual acquaintance nor ordinary fraternization  between
 two  individuals  in  business  or  social  contexts  shall be deemed to
 constitute an "intimate relationship"[.]; AND
   (F) PERSONS WHO ARE NOT RELATED BY CONSANGUINITY, AFFINITY, OR INTIMA-
 CY AND WHO ARE OR HAVE BEEN PARTY TO UNRECIPROCATED  OFFENSIVE  CONTACT.
 "UNRECIPROCATED  OFFENSIVE  CONTACT"  SHALL  BE  DEFINED AS A PATTERN OF
 COMMUNICATION OR ACTIVITY WHEREIN ONE PERSON (THE RESPONDENT) IS ENGAGED
 IN PRIMARILY ONE-SIDED ASSAULTIVE OR THREATENING CONDUCT AND/OR A COURSE
 OF REPEATED, UNWELCOME COMMUNICATION AT OR  ABOUT  ANOTHER  PERSON  (THE
 PETITIONER).  FACTORS  THE  COURT MAY CONSIDER IN DETERMINING WHETHER AN
 ALLEGED OFFENDER IS ENGAGING IN UNRECIPROCATED OFFENSIVE CONTACT INCLUDE
 BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO: THE EXTENT  TO  WHICH  THE  PETITIONER  HAS  NOT
 CONSENTED  TO  SUCH CONTACT, THE VOLUME AND FREQUENCY OF SUCH CONTACT BY
 THE RESPONDENT, THE COERCIVE, THREATENING, AND/OR HARASSING  CONTENT  OF
 ANY  COMMUNICATIONS  SENT  BY THE RESPONDENT, AND THE SERIOUSNESS AND/OR
 ONE-SIDEDNESS OF SUCH CONTACT.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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Senate Bill S9136

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Children And Families Committee

Actions

2021-S9136 (ACTIVE) - Details

2021-S9136 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S9136 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2021-S9136 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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Sponsored By

Andrew Gounardes

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Children And Families Committee

Actions

2021-S9136 (ACTIVE) - Details

2021-S9136 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S9136 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2021-S9136 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments