NY State Senate Bill 2023-S6804

Senate Bill S6804

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Establishes a rebuttable presumption of a hate crime when certain crimes are committed on, in or upon a house of worship

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - Stricken

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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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
May 06, 2024	recommit, enacting clause stricken
Jan 03, 2024	referred to codes
May 10, 2023	referred to codes

2023-S6804 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A7792
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §485.05, Pen L

2023-S6804 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Establishes a rebuttable presumption of a hate crime when certain crimes are committed on, in or upon a house of worship.

2023-S6804 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S6804

SPONSOR: KENNEDY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing a rebuttable
presumption of a hate crime when certain crimes are committed on, in or
upon a house of worship

 
PURPOSE:

This legislation would create a rebuttable presumption that any crime as
defined in subdivision three of section 485 of the penal law that occurs
on, in, or upon a house of worship is a hate crime and provides a defi-
nition for a house of worship.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends section 485.05 of penal law by adding a new subdivision
2-a which creates a rebuttable presumption that a crime occurring on,
in, or upon a house of worship is a hate crime.

Section 2 provides the definition of a house of worship.

Section 3 establishes the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In recent years, religiously-based hate crimes have continued to
increase. According to the most recent data available from the FBI, a
total of 1,590 incidents of hate crimes related to religion were
reported in 2021(1). In New York State, there are unfortunately numerous
examples of vandalism at houses of worship, including a 2022 incident at
St. Margaret Catholic Church in Buffalo, where multiple statues were
severely damaged with the use of a sledgehammer.(2) Also in 2022, a
synagogue in Brooklyn was defaced with antisemitic graffiti and threat-
ening the safety of the local Jewish community (3).  These incidents,
just two of many, do not result only in property damage, which can be
repaired. They also spread fear in the community and lead to a silencing
of religious activity, a protected First Amendment right. This legis-
lation would create a rebuttable presumption of a hate crime when
certain crimes are committed on, in, or upon a house of worship such as
a church, mosque, or synagogue.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take immediately.
1 https://www.justice.gov/crs/highlights/2021-hate-crime-statistics
2 https://www.wivb.com/news/crime/buffalo-police-investigating- damage-
at-st-margaret-church/
3 https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/brooklyn-synagogue- congregation-
beth-shalom-vandalized-with-hateful-message/

2023-S6804 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6804
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 10, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. KENNEDY -- 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 establishing a  rebuttable
   presumption  of  a hate crime when certain crimes are committed on, in
   or upon a house of worship

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Section 485.05 of the penal law is amended by adding a new
 subdivision 2-a to read as follows:
   2-A. ANY CRIME COMMITTED AS  DEFINED  IN  SUBDIVISION  THREE  OF  THIS
 SECTION THAT OCCURS ON, IN OR UPON A HOUSE OF WORSHIP CREATES A REBUTTA-
 BLE PRESUMPTION THAT IT IS A HATE CRIME.
   §  2.  Paragraph  (c)  of subdivision 4 of section 485.05 of the penal
 law, as amended by chapter 8 of the laws of 2019, is amended and  a  new
 paragraph (d) is added to read as follows:
   (c)  the  term "gender identity or expression" means a person's actual
 or perceived gender-related identity, appearance, behavior,  expression,
 or other gender-related characteristic regardless of the sex assigned to
 that person at birth, including, but not limited to, the status of being
 transgender[.];
   (D) "HOUSE OF WORSHIP" SHALL MEAN ANY STRUCTURE OR SITE USED PRIMARILY
 AS  A  PLACE  OF WORSHIP ON A PERMANENT BASIS BY A RECOGNIZED AND ESTAB-
 LISHED RELIGIOUS SECT OR DENOMINATION PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT THIS DEFI-
 NITION SHALL NOT INCLUDE ANY RELIGIOUS SITE  OR  STRUCTURE  USED  AS  A:
 SCHOOL, COLLEGE, HOSPITAL OR OTHER SIMILAR STRUCTURE OR SITE THAT IS NOT
 USED PRIMARILY FOR RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10977-01-3

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