What's happening
This bill requires New York courts to instruct juries not to let bias, prejudice, or protected-class status influence their verdicts.
Why it matters
Aims to ensure fairer trials. by explicitly directing juries to base their verdicts only on evidence, not on personal feelings, public pressure, or stereotypes tied to protected characteristics.
Addresses implicit bias. by requiring courts to acknowledge and counteract the influence of race, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and other protected statuses during jury deliberations.
Could strengthen public trust in the justice system. by signaling a clear commitment to impartiality and equal treatment under the law, potentially reducing the risk of wrongful convictions or unfair acquittals rooted in prejudice.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Ban Jury Bias in Trials
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
11 Co-sponsors
3 Multi-sponsors
History
- Referred to codes
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
10658
IN ASSEMBLY
May 10, 2018
Introduced by M. of A. WALLACE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to including in the court's jury charge that the jury is not to allow bias, sympathy, fear, public opinion, or the defendant being a member of a protected class influence their decision
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 300.10 of the criminal procedure law is amended by adding a new subdivision 2-a to read as follows:
2-a. In its charge, the court must instruct the jury as follows: "Do not allow any bias, sympathy, fear, or public opinion influence your decision in any way. Your verdict must be based solely upon the evidence at trial and not upon the race, color, gender, national origin, ancestry, religion, age, disability, gender identity or sexual orientation of any person."
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding 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.
LBD15718-03-8
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.