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Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to judiciary
- Referred to judiciary
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S4591
Title of bill
An act to amend the lien law, in relation to filing of false liens against public officials
Purpose
To ensure that appropriate punishments and deterrents exist in relation to the malicious filing of false or fictitious liens against local or state officers as defined in state law, including but not limited to police officers and elected officials.
Summary of provisions
Section one amends the lien law to prohibit the filing of false or fictitious liens against public officers as defined in section two of the public officers law, and imposes a criminal sanction of 510,000 per incidence or up to one year in prison or both.
Section two sets forth the effective date
Justification
In recent years, members of the so-called "Sovereign Citizens Movement" have begun to utilize the tactic of filing multiple false or fictitious liens against police officers and public officials as a means to intimidate these individuals and undermine the rule of law. The FBI describes such individuals as anti-government extremists who believe that even though they are in the country, they are separate or "sovereign" from the United States. There are multiple examples across New York State of "sovereigns" using false liens as a part of a scheme to destroy the lives of ordinary people who are simply doing their jobs. These bogus liens are meritless, but in multiple cases they were accepted by the Department of State and other entities and began to appear on credit reports and had a significant and negative impact on law abiding citizens.
In response to this problem, the Federal Government has enacted 18 USCA 1521, which gives Federal authorities the ability to prosecute those involved in this activity, but the law only covers those victims who are Federal Government officials. This bill would provide equivalent state protections to public officers covered under New York State law, including local elected leaders and law enforcement officials.
Legislative history
S.2026 of 2013 referred to Judiciary.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.