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History
- Referred to codes
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 58–0
- Ordered to third reading cal.1267
- Committee discharged and committed to rules
- Referred to codes
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Classifies gang assault in the first degree and gang assault in the second degree as hate crimes
In Assembly Committee · Codes · Sponsor Daniel O'Donnell
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S7093
Title of bill
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to classifying gang assault in the first degree and gang assault in the second degree as hate crimes
Purpose or general idea of bill
Adds the crime of gang assault to the list of crimes which are prosecutable under the hate crimes law.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 amends subdivision 3 of section 485.05 of the penal law to add sections 120.06 (gang assault in the second degree) and 120.07 (gang assault in the first degree) of the penal law to the list of specified offenses which are included in the hate crimes law.
Section 2 establishes an immediate effective date.
Justification
New York State's hate crimes law enhances penalties for crimes which are committed against individuals based wholly or substantially upon the individual's race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability, or sexual orientation. This section of law is crucial to ensuring legal protection for vulnerable segments of our population.
On October 3rd, 2010, three Bronx men were savagely beaten, tortured, and robbed by a group of nine young men. The group carried out the attack because they suspected the three victims to be gay. They took the victims back to an apartment in the Bronx, where they stripped them of their clothes and carried out a vicious series of assaults with various implements, including a baseball bat, a box cutter, a plunger handle, and lit cigarettes.
On February 20th, 2014, the assailants were given sentences of varying lengths for their crimes. The leader of the assaults was sentenced to 14 years in prison on one count of gang assault in the first degree. However, prosecutors had initially sought to charge the leader and the other assailants with a hate crime. Due to the fact that the charge of gang assault is not included in New York's hate crimes law, they were unable to elevate the assailants' sentences to a higher category and did not pursue a hate crime charge because they would not have been able to secure an elevated sentence.
This bill would add language including the offenses of gang assault in the first degree and gang assault in the second degree to New York's hate crimes law. This will ensure that any gang assaults which are based wholly or substantially on an individual's race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability, or sexual orientation can be prosecuted under the hate crimes law and result in an elevated sentence.
Prior legislative history
New Bill.
Fiscal implications
None to the state.
Effective date
Immediate.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.