BILL NUMBER: S8709

SPONSOR: MANNION
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to first responders coming
into contact with saliva by spitting, throwing, tossing or expelling
from or by an individual

 
PURPOSE:

Relates to first responders coming into contact with saliva by spitting,
throwing, tossing, or expelling from or by an individual

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 240.30 of the penal law is amended
to include subdivision 6 and a new subdivision 5 is added to read as
follows: 5. With the intent to harass, annoy, threaten or alarm another
person whom he or she knows or reasonably should know to be a first
responder, he or she causes or attempts to cause such first responder to
come into contact with saliva by spitting, throwing, tossing or expel-
              

ling such fluid; or

Section 2. The opening paragraph of section 240.32 of the penal law, as
amended by chapter 322 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as
follows:

An incarcerated individual or respondent is guilty of aggravated 12
harassment of an employee or first responder by an incarcerated individ-
ual when, with intent to harass, annoy, threaten or alarm a person in a
facility whom he or she knows or reasonably should know to be an employ-
ee of such facility or the board of parole or the office of mental
health, or a probation department, bureau or unit or a police officer or
a first responder, he or she causes or attempts to cause such employee
to come into contact with blood, saliva, seminal fluid, urine, feces, or
the contents of a toilet bowl, by spitting, throwing, tossing or expel-
ling such fluid or material.

Section 3 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

During the 2013 Legislative Session, legislation was signed into law to
expand the definition of aggravated harassment of an employee to include
the actions of an inmate throwing the contents of a toilet bowl upon an
employee (Chapter 18o of the Laws of 2013). Chapter 18o of the Laws of
2013 was originally introduced to protect the dedicated employees of the
Department of Corrections and Community Supervision who perform extreme-
ly dangerous work and are all too often faced with degrading acts by
those who are incarcerated. The Legislature recognized the need to
protect the employees of the Department and passed the bill overwhelm-
ingly. This legislation seeks to criminalize the similar degrading
actions of an inmate or individual who intentionally expectorates on an
employee of the Department or any first responder as defined in NYS law.
With the inclusion of language that includes all first responders being
subjected to spit or any other of the above mentioned harassment, the
bill would ensure that unintended/intended expectorating, which can

often occur during a heated discussion or argument, does not constitute
a crime under the bill.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

None

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.