LAWS
OF NEW YORK, 2000
CHAPTER 107
Hate Crimes Act of 2000
old law to be omitted.
LAWS OF NEW YORK, 2000
CHAPTER 107
AN ACT to amend the penal law, the executive law and the
criminal proce-
dure law, in relation to hate crimes
Became a law July 10, 2000, with the approval of the Governor.
Passed by a majority vote, three-fifths being present.
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 the
"hate
crimes act of 2000".
§ 2. Part 4 of the penal law is amended by adding a
new title Y to
read as follows:
TITLE Y
HATE CRIMES ACT OF 2000
ARTICLE 485
HATE CRIMES
Section 485.00 Legislative findings.
485.05 Hate crimes.
485.10 Sentencing.
§ 485.00 Legislative findings.
The legislature finds and determines as follows: criminal
acts involv-
ing violence, intimidation and destruction of property
based upon bias
and prejudice have become more prevalent in New York
state in recent
years. The intolerable truth is that in these crimes,
commonly and
justly referred to as "hate crimes", victims
are intentionally selected,
in whole or in part, because of their race, color,
national origin,
ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age,
disability or sexu-
al orientation. Hate crimes do more than threaten
the safety and
welfare of all citizens. They inflict on victims incalculable
physical
and emotional damage and tear at the very fabric of
free society.
Crimes motivated by invidious hatred toward particular
groups not only
harm individual victims but send a powerful message
of intolerance and
discrimination to all members of the group to which
the victim belongs.
Hate crimes can and do intimidate and disrupt entire
communities and
vitiate the civility that is essential to healthy
democratic processes.
In a democratic society, citizens cannot be required
to approve of the
beliefs and practices of others, but must never commit
criminal acts on
account of them. Current law does not adequately recognize
the harm to
public order and individual safety that hate crimes
cause. Therefore,
our laws must be strengthened to provide clear recognition
of the gravi-
ty of hate crimes and the compelling importance of
preventing their
recurrence.
Accordingly, the legislature finds and declares that
hate crimes
should be prosecuted and punished with appropriate
severity.
§ 485.05 Hate crimes.
1. A person commits a hate crime when he or she commits
a specified
offense and either:
(a) intentionally selects the person against whom
the offense is
committed or intended to be committed in whole or
in substantial part
because of a belief or perception regarding the race,
color, national
origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice,
age, disability
or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether
the belief or
perception is correct, or
(b) intentionally commits the act or acts constituting
the offense in
whole or in substantial part because of a belief or
perception regarding
the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender,
religion, religious
practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of
a person, regardless
of whether the belief or perception is correct.
2. Proof of race, color, national origin, ancestry,
gender, religion,
religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation
of the defend-
ant, the victim or of both the defendant and the victim
does not, by
itself, constitute legally sufficient evidence satisfying
the people's
burden under paragraph (a) or (b) of subdivision one
of this section.
3. A "specified offense" is an offense defined
by any of the following
provisions of this chapter: section 120.00 (assault
in the third
degree); section 120.05 (assault in the second degree);
section 120.10
(assault in the first degree); section 120.12 (aggravated
assault upon a
person less than eleven years old); section 120.13
(menacing in the
first degree); section 120.14 (menacing in the second
degree); section
120.15 (menacing in the third degree); section 120.20
(reckless endan-
germent in the second degree); section 120.25 (reckless
endangerment in
the first degree); subdivision one of section 125.15
(manslaughter in
the second degree); subdivision one, two or four of
section 125.20
(manslaughter in the first degree); section 125.25
(murder in the second
degree); section 120.45 (stalking in the fourth degree);
section 120.50
(stalking in the third degree); section 120.55 (stalking
in the second
degree); section 120.60 (stalking in the first degree);
subdivision one
of section 130.35 (rape in the first degree); subdivision
one of section
130.50 (sodomy in the first degree); subdivision one
of section 130.65
(sexual abuse in the first degree); paragraph (a)
of subdivision one of
section 130.67 (aggravated sexual abuse in the second
degree); paragraph
(a) of subdivision one of section 130.70 (aggravated
sexual abuse in the
first degree); section 135.05 (unlawful imprisonment
in the second
degree); section 135.10 (unlawful imprisonment in
the first degree);
section 135.20 (kidnapping in the second degree);
section 135.25
(kidnapping in the first degree); section 135.60 (coercion
in the second
degree); section 135.65 (coercion in the first degree);
section 140.10
(criminal trespass in the third degree); section 140.15
(criminal tres-
pass in the second degree); section 140.17 (criminal
trespass in the
first degree); section 140.20 (burglary in the third
degree); section
140.25 (burglary in the second degree); section 140.30
(burglary in the
first degree); section 145.00 (criminal mischief in
the fourth degree);
section 145.05 (criminal mischief in the third degree);
section 145.10
(criminal mischief in the second degree); section
145.12 (criminal
mischief in the first degree); section 150.05 (arson
in the fourth
degree); section 150.10 (arson in the third degree);
section 150.15
(arson in the second degree); section 150.20 (arson
in the first
degree); section 155.25 (petit larceny); section 155.30
(grand larceny
in the fourth degree); section 155.35 (grand larceny
in the third
degree); section 155.40 (grand larceny in the second
degree); section
155.42 (grand larceny in the first degree); section
160.05 (robbery in
the third degree); section 160.10 (robbery in the
second degree);
section 160.15 (robbery in the first degree); section
240.25 (harassment
in the first degree); subdivision one, two or four
of section 240.30
(aggravated harassment in the second degree); or any
attempt or conspir-
acy to commit any of the foregoing offenses.
4. For purposes of this section:
(a) the term "age" means sixty years old
or more;
(b) the term "disability" means a physical
or mental impairment that
substantially limits a major life activity.
§ 485.10 Sentencing.
1. When a person is convicted of a hate crime pursuant
to this arti-
cle, and the specified offense is a violent felony
offense, as defined
in section 70.02 of this chapter, the hate crime shall
be deemed a
violent felony offense.
2. When a person is convicted of a hate crime pursuant
to this article
and the specified offense is a misdemeanor or a class
C, D or E felony,
the hate crime shall be deemed to be one category
higher than the speci-
fied offense the defendant committed, or one category
higher than the
offense level applicable to the defendant's conviction
for an attempt or
conspiracy to commit a specified offense, whichever
is applicable.
3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when
a person is
convicted of a hate crime pursuant to this article
and the specified
offense is a class B felony:
(a) the maximum term of the indeterminate sentence
must be at least
six years if the defendant is sentenced pursuant to
section 70.00 of
this chapter;
(b) the term of the determinate sentence must be at
least eight years
if the defendant is sentenced pursuant to section
70.02 of this chapter;
(c) the term of the determinate sentence must be at
least twelve years
if the defendant is sentenced pursuant to section
70.04 of this chapter;
(d) the maximum term of the indeterminate sentence
must be at least
four years if the defendant is sentenced pursuant
to section 70.05 of
this chapter; and
(e) the maximum term of the indeterminate sentence
or the term of the
determinate sentence must be at least ten years if
the defendant is
sentenced pursuant to section 70.06 of this chapter.
4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when
a person is
convicted of a hate crime pursuant to this article
and the specified
offense is a class A-1 felony, the minimum period
of the indeterminate
sentence shall be not less than twenty years.
§ 3. Subdivision 3 of section 240.30 of the penal law,
as amended by
chapter 345 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
3. Strikes, shoves, kicks, or otherwise subjects another
person to
physical contact, or attempts or threatens to do the same
because of
[the ] a belief or perception
regarding such person's race, color, [reli-
gion or ] national origin [of
such person ], ancestry, gender, religion,
religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation,
regardless of
whether the belief or perception is correct;
or
§ 4. The opening paragraph of section 240.31 of the
penal law, as
amended by chapter 958 of the laws of 1983, is amended to
read as
follows:
A person is guilty of aggravated harassment in the first
degree when
with intent to harass, annoy, threaten or alarm another
person, because
of [the ] a belief or perception
regarding such person's race, color,
[religion or ] national origin [of
such person ], ancestry, gender, reli-
gion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual
orientation, regard-
less of whether the belief or perception is correct,
he or she:
§ 5. Section 240.00 of the penal law is amended by
adding two new
subdivisions 5 and 6 to read as follows:
5. "Age" means sixty years old or more.
6. "Disability" means a physical or mental
impairment that substan-
tially limits a major life activity.
§ 6. (Intentionally Omitted.)
§ 7. Subdivisions 4 and 7 of section 200.50 of the
criminal procedure
law, subdivision 4 as amended by chapter 467 of the laws
of 1974 and
subdivision 7 as amended by chapter 481 of the laws of 1978,
are amended
to read as follows:
4. A statement in each count that the grand jury, or, where
the accu-
satory instrument is a superior court information, the district
attor-
ney, accuses the defendant or defendants of a designated
offense,
provided that in any prosecution under article four
hundred eighty-five
of the penal law, the designated offense shall be
the specified offense,
as defined in subdivision three of section 485.05
of the penal law,
followed by the phrase "as a hate crime";
and
7. A plain and concise factual statement in each count which,
without
allegations of an evidentiary nature,
(a) asserts facts supporting every element of the offense
charged and
the defendant's or defendants' commission thereof with sufficient
preci-
sion to clearly apprise the defendant or defendants of the
conduct which
is the subject of the accusation; and
(b) in the case of any armed felony, as defined in subdivision
forty-one of section 1.20, states that such offense is an
armed felony
and specifies the particular implement the defendant or
defendants
possessed, were armed with, used or displayed or, in the
case of an
implement displayed, specifies what the implement appeared
to be; and
(c) in the case of any hate crime, as defined in section
485.05 of the
penal law, specifies, as applicable, that the defendant
or defendants
intentionally selected the person against whom the
offense was committed
or intended to be committed; or intentionally committed
the act or acts
constituting the offense, in whole or in substantial
part because of a
belief or perception regarding the race, color, national
origin, ances-
try, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability
or sexual
orientation of a person; and
§ 8. Section 837 of the executive law is amended by
adding a new
subdivision 4-c to read as follows:
4-c. In cooperation with the chief administrator of
the courts as well
as any other public or private agency, including law
enforcement agen-
cies, collect and analyze statistical and all other
information and data
with respect to the number of hate crimes reported
to or investigated by
the division of state police, and all other police
or peace officers,
the number of persons arrested for the commission
of such crimes, the
offense for which the person was arrested, the county
within which the
arrest was made and the accusatory instrument filed,
the disposition of
the accusatory instrument filed, including, but not
limited to, as the
case may be, dismissal, acquittal, the offense to
which the defendant
pled guilty, the offense the defendant was convicted
of after trial, and
the sentence imposed. The division shall include the
statistics and
other information required by this subdivision in
the annual report
submitted to the governor and legislature pursuant
to subdivision twelve
of this section.
§ 9. This act shall take effect 90 days after it shall
have become a
law.
The Legislature of the STATE OF NEW YORK ss:
Pursuant to the authority vested in us by section 70-b of
the Public
Officers Law, we hereby jointly certify that this slip copy
of this
session law was printed under our direction and, in accordance
with such
section, is entitled to be read into evidence.
| JOSEPH L. BRUNO | SHELDON SILVER |
| Temporary President of the Senate | Speaker of the Assembly |
Page last updated July 23, 2003