NY State Senate Bill 2023-S8904

Senate Bill S8904

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Relates to repeated instances of harassment giving rise to a charge of aggravated harassment in the second degree and harassment in the first degree

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

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 26, 2024	referred to codes

2023-S8904 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A7928
Current Committee:: Senate Codes
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§240.30 & 240.25, Pen L
Versions Introduced in 2025-2026 Legislative Session:: S5348, A462

2023-S8904 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to repeated instances of harassment giving rise to a charge of aggravated harassment in the second degree and harassment in the first degree; clarifies that the victim of such separate offenses does not need to be the same individual.

2023-S8904 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8904

SPONSOR: CHU
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to repeated instances of
harassment

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this legislation is to ensure repeat offenders are
charged in accordance with the compounded results of their recidivism.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends subdivision 5 of section 240.30 of the penal law to
include instances of repeat harassment as a charge of aggravated harass-
ment in the second degree and harassment in the first degree.

Section 2 sets the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:

Recidivism for harassment can lead to dangerous situations for public
safety in our communities. In some cases, offenders will repeat their
crimes with different victims, and victimizing different individuals
should not negate the severity of the crime itself when the offender has
been previously charged for the same crime. According to the New York
State Division of Criminal Justice Services, the most common hate crime
charges were aggravated harassment, which made up 43.6% of arrests in
2021, with 5% being repeat offenders.' Given the most than substantial
increase in hate crimes over the last few years, this issue must be
addressed for victims of harassment that is based upon the foundation of
racism, antisemitism, islamophobia, homophobia, or other characteristic
as defined by state law. This legislation assures that a person who has
a pattern of multiple instances of harassment can be prosecuted appro-
priately.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become a law.
1 Rosado, Rossana. Rep. Hate Crime in New York State 2021 Annual Report.
New York State Division of Criminal Justice, December 2022.

2023-S8904 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8904
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 26, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  CHU  --  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  repeated  instances  of
   harassment
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Subdivision 5 of  section  240.30  of  the  penal  law,  as
 amended  by  chapter  188  of  the  laws  of 2014, is amended to read as
 follows:
   5. He or she commits the crime of harassment in the first  degree  and
 has  previously  been  convicted of the crime of harassment in the first
 degree as defined by section 240.25 of this article within the preceding
 ten years, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR  NOT  THE  ALLEGED  VICTIM  OF  SUCH
 HARASSMENT IS THE SAME VICTIM FROM SUCH PRIOR OFFENSE.
   § 2. Section 240.25 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 109 of the
 laws of 1994, is amended to read as follows:
 § 240.25 Harassment in the first degree.
   A person is guilty of harassment in the first degree when [he]:
   1.  HE  or she intentionally and repeatedly harasses another person by
 following such person in or about a public place or places or by  engag-
 ing in a course of conduct or by repeatedly committing acts which places
 such person in reasonable fear of physical injury; OR
   2.  HE  OR  SHE COMMITS THE OFFENSE OF HARASSMENT IN THE SECOND DEGREE
 AND HAS PREVIOUSLY BEEN CONVICTED OF THE  CRIME  OF  HARASSMENT  IN  THE
 SECOND  DEGREE  AS  DEFINED BY SECTION 240.26 OF THIS ARTICLE WITHIN THE
 PRECEDING FIVE YEARS, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT THE ALLEGED VICTIM OF
 SUCH HARASSMENT IS THE SAME VICTIM FROM SUCH PRIOR OFFENSE; OR
   3. HE OR SHE ENGAGES IN A PATTERN OF HARASSMENT OF  MULTIPLE  INDIVID-
 UALS  AS  THE  TERM  HARASSMENT  IS  DEFINED  BY  SECTION 240.26 OF THIS
 ARTICLE.
   This section shall not apply to activities regulated by  the  national
 labor  relations  act, as amended, the railway labor act, as amended, or
 the federal employment labor management act, as amended.
   Harassment in the first degree is a class B misdemeanor.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD11880-02-3

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