What's happening
This bill increases criminal penalties and public education for assaulting, harassing, or threatening sports officials in New York.
Why it matters
Expands legal protections for sports officials. by explicitly including coaches, assistant coaches, and other officials or substitutes at any level of sports contest (youth, school, amateur, intercollegiate), and covering incidents that occur not just on the field but also in related areas like parking lots, before and after games.
Creates a new criminal offense—aggravated harassment of a sports official—. which specifically targets actions such as physical contact, spitting, or making credible threats against sports officials, recognizing the unique risks they face and elevating such acts to a class B misdemeanor.
Directs a statewide education campaign. to inform parents, spectators, and participants in youth and amateur sports about the new protections for officials, aiming to proactively reduce aggression and clarify that harassment or assault can bring criminal consequences.
Signals a policy shift in prioritizing the safety and authority of sports officials,. which may help address ongoing issues of referee and coach shortages linked to fear of abuse, and encourage a more respectful sports environment across New York.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Protect Sports Officials from Assault
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to codes
- Referred to rules
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6762
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
October 2, 2019
Introduced by Sen. GALLIVAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to the assault on sports officials
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 14 of section 120.05 of the penal law, as added by chapter 268 of the laws of 2016, is amended and a new subdivision 15 is added to read as follows:
14. With intent to prevent or obstruct a process server, as defined in section eighty-nine-t of the general business law, from performing a lawful duty pursuant to article three of the civil practice law and rules, or intentionally, as retaliation against such a process server for the performance of the process server's duties pursuant to such article, including by means of releasing or failing to control an animal evincing the actor's intent that the animal prevent or obstruct the lawful duty of the process server or as retaliation against the process server, he or she causes physical injury to such process server[.]; or
15. With intent to cause physical injury to a sports official, which shall include umpires, referees, judges, linesmen, coaches, assistant coaches, and any other person participating in an official or substitute capacity at a sports contest, he or she causes such injury to such sports official in or on or within any building, structure, athletic playing field or playground at which the sports contest including pregame and post-game activities are conducted; including any and all surrounding parking facilities or areas designated for parking for such sports contests.
§ 2. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 240.33 to read as follows: § 240.33 Aggravated harassment of a sports official.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13870-04-9
S. 6762 2
A person is guilty of aggravated harassment of a sports official when, with intent to harass, annoy, threaten or alarm a sports official, which shall include umpires, referees, judges, linesmen, coaches, assistant coaches, and any other person participating in an official or substitute capacity at a sports contest, he or she:
1. Strikes, shoves, kicks or otherwise subjects such sports official to physical contact, or attempts to threaten to do the same;
2. Causes or attempts to cause such sports official to come into contact with saliva by expelling such fluid at a sports contest; or
3. Communicates a threat to cause physical harm to, or unlawful harm to the property of a sports official, and the person knows or reasonably should know that such communication will cause such sports official to reasonably fear harm to such official's physical safety or property.
Aggravated harassment of a sports official is a class B misdemeanor.
§ 3. The education department of the state of New York shall establish an information campaign to be distributed to all youth sports programs, school sports programs, amateur sports programs, and intercollegiate sports programs, requiring such programs to disseminate information to parents and other spectators of such programs on the protections afforded sports officials. In particular, the information campaign shall instruct spectators of such sports programs on the appropriate behavior to exhibit when observing such applicable sports events and that harassing or assaulting a sports official due to a decision made by such official may result in the filing of criminal charges against such spectator. Such sports programs must provide the information prepared by such department pursuant to this section to parents and other prospective spectators at the start of each sports season. Such information may be disseminated via a school's website or if available, a website dedicated to a youth or other sports program.
§ 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to the assault on sports officials
Purpose
To modify pertinent sections of the state's aggravated harassment and assault laws to specifically categorize sports officials working on the youth, interscholastic, collegiate, amateur, and professional sports levels and to require a campaign to disseminate information to parents and other spectators on the protections to be afforded to such sports officials.
Summary of provisions
Section one of the bill adds a new subdivision 15 to section 120.05 of the Penal law governing assault in the second degree to include sports official.
Section two of the bill adds a new section 240.33 of the Penal law establishing aggravated harassment of a sports official.
Section three of the bill requires the State Education Department to establish a spectator information campaign.
Section four of the bill establishes the effective date.
Justification
Sports officials are an essential part of any organized sporting compe- tition. In recent years, sports officials (umpires, referees, judges, coaches, etc.) have unfortunately experienced increasing harassment and in some cases have been assaulted by spectators of such sporting events. The actions perpetrated by such spectators is simply unacceptable.
Spectators who have committed these acts not only harm the victim but also create consternation among the entire community of sports offi- cials, often resulting in a diminished interest among persons willing to become a sports official. This dearth of interest is no more acute than among youth and school sports programs.
In recognition of the important role they perform within organized sports, this bill would establish enhanced legal protections exclusively for sports officials. Doing so will also bring New York in line with the thirty-three other states that have either created specific protections within the law or recognized the unique role carried out by sports offi- cials.
Legislative history
S.5082 of 1997-98; Referred to Senate Codes Committee S.651 of 1999-00; Referred to Senate Codes Committee S.1224/A.6358 of 2001/2002; Referred to Senate Codes Committee S.564/A.1579 of 2003/2004; Referred to Senate Codes Committee S.1158/A.2044 of 2005/2006; Referred to Senate Codes Committee S.47 of 2007/2008; Referred to Senate Codes Committee S.1052/A.829 of 2009/2010; Referred to Senate Codes Committee S.187/A.2385 of 2011/2012; Referred to Senate Codes Committee
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.