What's happening
This bill limits who can sue for wrongful disclosure of a sex offense victim’s identity, allowing only victims not already publicly identified.
Why it matters
Narrows who can sue. The bill restricts lawsuits for wrongful disclosure of a sex offense victim’s identity to only those victims whose identities have *not* already been made public, preventing people who have already been publicly identified from seeking damages for further disclosure.
Limits legal liability. By specifying that only non-publicly identified victims can sue, the bill protects individuals and entities (such as media or government employees) from lawsuits if they disclose information about victims who are already publicly known, potentially reducing the risk of costly litigation.
Reinforces privacy incentives. The change provides a stronger incentive for agencies and officials to protect the confidentiality of victims who have not been publicly identified, as these are the only individuals with standing to bring a lawsuit if their privacy is breached.
May impact victim recourse. Victims whose identities have already been revealed—intentionally or unintentionally—lose the ability to sue for further disclosures, which could affect their ability to seek damages or accountability for repeated invasions of privacy.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Limit Who Can Sue
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to codes
- Referred to codes
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
413
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
Introduced by Sen. LANZA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to limiting who may bring a private right of action for identifying a victim of a sex offense
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 50-b of the civil rights law, as amended by chapter 320 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:
1. The identity of any victim of a sex offense, as defined in article one hundred thirty or section 255.25, 255.26 or 255.27 of the penal law, or of an offense involving the alleged transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus, shall be confidential. No portion of any report, paper, picture, photograph, court file or other documents, in the custody or possession of any public officer or employee, which identifies such a victim shall be made available for public inspection. No such public officer or employee shall disclose any portion of any police report, court file, or other document, which tends to identify such a victim except as provided in subdivision two of this section.
§ 2. Section 50-c of the civil rights law, as amended by chapter 643 of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as follows:
§ 50-c. Private right of action. If the identity of the victim of an offense defined in subdivision one of section fifty-b of this article is disclosed in violation of such section, [any person injured by such disclosure] and has not otherwise been publicly disclosed, such victim may bring an action to recover damages suffered by reason of such wrongful disclosure. In any action brought under this section, the court may award reasonable attorney's fees to a prevailing plaintiff.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04312-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the civil rights law, in relation to limiting who may bring a private right of action for identifying a victim of a sex offense
Purpose
To limit who may bring a private right of action for identifying a victim of a sex offense
Summary of provisions
Section one amends subdivision 1 of section 50-b of the civil rights law, as amended by chapter 320 of the laws of 2006, to provide that no portion of any report, paper, picture, photograph, court file or other documents in the custody or possession of any public officer or employee which identifies a victim of a sex offense shall be made available for public inspection.
Section two amends section 50-c of the civil rights law, as amended by chapter 643 of the laws of 1999, to provide that a victim of a sex offense may bring an action to recover damages suffered by reason of a wrongful disclosure where the identity of the victim is disclosed in violation of section 50-b(1) of the civil rights law and has not other- wise been publicly disclosed.
Section three provides the effective date.
Justification
Current law provides that no report, paper, picture, photograph, court file or other documents in the custody or possession of any public offi- cer or employee which identifies a victim of a sex offense shall be made available for public inspection. Due to the breadth and vagueness of the law, public officials have been reluctant to disclose any information concerning sex offenses for fear of being sued. As a result, the law inadvertently protects defendants because no information is disclosed. By specifying that no portion" of any report, paper, picture, photo- graph, court file or other documents which identifies such a victim shall be available for public inspection, it makes clear to public offi- cials that they can make available for public inspection all portions of such reports, papers, pictures, photographs, court files or other docu- ments that do not identify a victim of a sex offense.
The private right of action under § 50-c of the civil rights law refers to any disclosure made in violation of § 50-b of the civil rights law, whether the disclosure is intentional or otherwise, inadvertent, or made after the victim's identity has been publicly disclosed by other means. The bill will clarify that the victim may bring a private right of action provided that the identity of such victim has not already been publicly disclosed other than by the wrongful disclosure by the public officer or employee.
Legislative history
2018: S.5144 - Referred to Codes 2017: S.5144 - Referred to Rules/A.1033 - Referred to Judiciary 2016: S.5103 - Referred to Codes/A.5411 - Referred to Judiciary 2015: S.5103 - Referred to Codes/A.5411 - Referred to Judiciary
Fiscal implications
None to the State.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.