What's happening
This bill creates criminal penalties for damaging military monuments, making desecration a class A misdemeanor in New York.
Why it matters
Defines “military monument” broadly. , covering any monument erected to honor current or former members of the armed forces or commemorate past military actions—so the law could apply to a wide range of memorials, not just major statues or well-known sites.
Expands sentencing options to include mandatory community service. , specifically allowing (and encouraging) judges to require offenders to perform maintenance and repair work on military monuments as part of their probation or conditional discharge, directly connecting the penalty to the nature of the crime.
Aligns military monument desecration with existing cemetery protection laws. , ensuring that damaging military monuments is treated comparably to the desecration of graves or burial sites, reflecting a societal value placed on honoring military service and history.
Could impact protest actions or vandalism involving military memorials. , potentially deterring such acts through increased legal consequences, and signaling strong legislative intent to protect symbols of military service and sacrifice.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Penalize Defacing Military Monuments
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
9 Co-sponsors
1 Multi-sponsor
History
- Referred to codes
- Referred to codes
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2768
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 23, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. ZEBROWSKI, ABBATE, HEVESI, SCHIMMINGER, LUPARDO, GALEF, ROSENTHAL, TITONE, GUNTHER, CUSICK -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. HOOPER -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to providing certain criminal penalties for damage to military monuments
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 145.24 to read as follows: § 145.24 Desecration of a military monument.
A person is guilty of desecration of a military monument when with intent to damage property, and having no right to do so nor any reasonable ground to believe that he or she has such right, he or she damages any real or personal property maintained as a military monument. A "military monument", for the purposes of this section, is any monument that was erected with the intent to honor a current or former member or members of the armed forces or to mark or commemorate a past military action or battle.
Desecration of a military monument is a class A misdemeanor.
§ 2. Section 60.29 of the penal law, as added by chapter 165 of the laws of 1997, is amended to read as follows: § 60.29 Authorized disposition; cemetery or military monument dese-
cration.
When a person is convicted of an offense defined in section 145.22 [or], 145.23 or 145.24 of this chapter or of an attempt to commit such an offense, and the sentence imposed by the court for such conviction includes a sentence of probation or conditional discharge, such sentence shall, where appropriate, be in accordance with paragraph (h) of subdivision two of section 65.10 of this [article] title as such section relates to cemetery or military monument crime.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07798-01-7
A. 2768 2
§ 3. Paragraph (h) of subdivision 2 of section 65.10 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 508 of the laws of 2001, is amended to read as follows:
(h) Perform services for a public or not-for-profit corporation, association, institution or agency, including but not limited to services for the division of substance abuse services, services in an appropriate community program for removal of graffiti from public or private property, including any property damaged in the underlying offense, or services for the maintenance and repair of real or personal property maintained as a cemetery plot, grave, burial place or other place of interment of human remains or a military monument. Provided however, that the performance of any such services shall not result in the displacement of employed workers or in the impairment of existing contracts for services, nor shall the performance of any such services be required or permitted in any establishment involved in any labor strike or lockout. The court may establish provisions for the early termination of a sentence of probation or conditional discharge pursuant to the provisions of subdivision three of section 410.90 of the criminal procedure law after such services have been completed. Such sentence may only be imposed upon conviction of a misdemeanor, violation, or class D or class E felony, or a youthful offender finding replacing any such conviction, where the defendant has consented to the amount and conditions of such service;
§ 4. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
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.