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Full text
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Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S2565
Title of bill
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to the criminal penalties for certain offenses relating to judicial and other proceedings
Purpose/summary of provisions
This bill is designed to increase penalties for witness and jury tampering, and base them on the penalty for the judicial or other proceeding which is the source of the tampering. This bill increases penalties for witness and jury tampering under sections 215.00, 215.05, 215.10, 215.11, 215.12, 215.13, 215.14, 215.15, 215.16, 215.17, 215.19, 215.20, 215.23, 215.28, and 215.30 of the Penal Law by adding a new section 215.90, setting a sliding scale for these crimes.
Effects of present law this bill would alter
In the above referenced sections of the Penal Law, criminal penalties would be determined by the penalty for the judicial or other proceeding which was the source of the subsequent witness or jury tampering, except that the penalties would be no less than those currently provided by law.
Justification
Jury and witness tampering can safely be described as the growth crime of the 1990s, due especially to increases in drug related crimes and subsequent court activities. This bill would remedy the often ineffective penalties provided for these crimes under the Penal Law, and enact penalties which are more appropriate for widespread intimidation and corruption of the legal system. Furthermore, this bill recognizes that witness and jury tampering in a class A felony case, for example, poses the potential of a more serious threat to our society than a similar offense in a crime carrying a lesser charge. Therefore, this legislation sets the penalties for violations on a sliding scale one criminal classification below the penalty being sought in the judicial proceeding which initiated the instance of witness or jury tampering, with a minimum penalty of that which is currently provided for under law.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
First of November after it becomes a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.