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Memo

BILL NUMBER:S1242

TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the penal law, in relation to including the use of a governmental agency to harass a person within the crime of aggravated harassment in the second degree

PURPOSE: To expand upon the definition of aggravated harassment and provide further provisions in dissuading both the public and governmental personnel from unlawfully using or disclosing confidential information with intent to alarm another individual.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 240.30 of the Penal law is amended with a new subdivision.

EXISTING LAW: Existing law defines a person guilty of aggravated harassment in the second degree when an individual is harassed, annoyed, threatened or alarmed by intent and through the usage of and/or by various forms of communications, and physical assault based on numerous factors. Such defined harassment includes verbal abuse, insults and epithets, intimidation or humiliation.

JUSTIFICATION: Harassment upon an individual is damaging and unavoidable when another individual has access to confidential information about the targeted individual. Claims against the individual can lead to reduced employee productivity and morale, higher turnover and absenteeism rates, and significant increases in medical and workers' compensation claims. Examples of harassment can comprise of a neighbor calling upon a city departmental agency on another individual to justify a false claim against that individual, to the placement of false complaints regarding illegal dumping of resources in to a neighboring reservoir. For each unfounded claim, an inspector must invest time and effort to investigate the claim. When an unfounded claim is determined, it becomes a waste of taxpayer time and money to the residents of New York and to the investigator.

When someone unlawfully causes personnel employed by a government agency or any political subdivision of the state or a municipality to interact with or contact in an official capacity that person, or is an actual employee of that government agency or political subdivision of the state or municipality and contacts that person, the person who unlawfully uses or discloses confidential information concerning the targeted individual with intent to harass, annoy, threaten or alarm shall be held liable to a crime of aggravated harassment in the second degree.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2010: S.6750 - Passed the Senate 61-0.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.

Text

STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________

1242

2011-2012 Regular Sessions

IN SENATE

January 6, 2011
___________

Introduced  by  Sens. ADDABBO, PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed,
  and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes

AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to including  the  use  of  a
  governmental  agency to harass a person within the crime of aggravated
  harassment in the second degree

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Subdivisions 3, 4 and 5 of section 240.30 of the penal law,
subdivisions  3  and  4 as amended and subdivision 5 as added by chapter
510 of the laws of 2008, are amended to read as follows:
  3. Strikes, shoves, kicks, or otherwise  subjects  another  person  to
physical  contact,  or attempts or threatens to do the same because of a
belief or perception  regarding  such  person's  race,  color,  national
origin,  ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability
or sexual orientation, regardless of whether the belief or perception is
correct; [or]
  4. Commits the crime of harassment in the first degree and has  previ-
ously  been  convicted of the crime of harassment in the first degree as
defined by section 240.25 of  this  article  within  the  preceding  ten
years[.]; OR
  5.   EITHER (A) UNLAWFULLY DISCLOSES CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION CONCERN-
ING THE PERSON HE OR SHE INTENDS TO HARASS, ANNOY,  THREATEN,  OR  ALARM
WHICH  HE  OR  SHE  OBTAINED  FROM  A GOVERNMENT AGENCY OR ANY POLITICAL
SUBDIVISION OF THE STATE OR MUNICIPALITY, IN A MANNER  LIKELY  TO  CAUSE
ANNOYANCE  OR  ALARM;  OR  (B) UNLAWFULLY CAUSES PERSONNEL EMPLOYED BY A
GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY OR ANY POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THE STATE OR MUNICI-
PALITY TO CONTACT OR INTERACT WITH THE  PERSON  HE  OR  SHE  INTENDS  TO
HARASS,  ANNOY,  THREATEN, OR ALARM IN AN OFFICIAL CAPACITY, IN A MANNER
LIKELY TO CAUSE ANNOYANCE OR ALARM.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD02019-01-1
S. 1242                             2

  6. For the purposes of subdivision one of this section, "form of writ-
ten communication" shall include, but not be limited to, a recording  as
defined in subdivision six of section 275.00 of this part.
  S 2. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
ing the date on which it shall have become a law.