NY State Senate Bill 2025-S1252

Senate Bill S1252

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Establishes a rebuttable presumption of a hate crime when certain crimes are committed on, in or upon a house of worship

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2025	referred to codes

2025-S1252 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Codes
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §485.05, Pen L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: S9466

2025-S1252 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Establishes a rebuttable presumption of a hate crime when certain crimes are committed on, in or upon a house of worship.

2025-S1252 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S1252

SPONSOR: ADDABBO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing a rebuttable
presumption of a hate crime when certain crimes are committed on, in or
upon a house of worship

 
PURPOSE:

This legislation would create a rebuttable presumption that any crime as
defined in subdivision three of section 485 of the penal law that occurs
on, in, or upon a house of warship is a hate crime and provides a defi-
nition for a house of worship.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Sect ion 1 amends section 485.05 of penal law by adding a new subdivi-
sion 2-a which creates a rebuttable presumption that a crime occurring
on, in, or upon a house of worship is a hate crime.

Section 2 provides the definition of a house of worship Section 3 estab-
lishes the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In recent years, religiously-based hate crimes have continued to
increase. According to the most recent data available from the FBI, a
total of 1,590 incidents of hate crimes related to religion were
reported in 2021 (1). In New York State, there are unfortunately numer-
ous examples of vandalism at houses of worship, including a 2022 inci-
dent at St. Margaret Catholic Church in Buffalo, where multiple statues
were severely damaged with the use of a sledgehammer (2).  Also in 2022,
a synagogue in Brooklyn was defaced with antisemitic graffiti and
threatening the safety of the local Jewish community (3). These inci-
dents, just two of many, do not result only in property damage, which
can be repaired. They also spread fear in the community and lead to a
silencing of religious activity, a protected First Amendment right. This
legislation would create a rebuttable presumption of a hate crime when
certain crimes are committed on, in, or upon a house of worship such as
a church, mosque, or synagogue

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2023: S.6804 (Kennedy) - Referred to Senate Codes Committee.

2024: S.9466 (Addabbo) - Referred to Senate Codes Committee.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
(1) https://www.justice.gov/crs/highlights/2021-hate-crime-statistics
(2) https://www.wivb.com/news/crime/buffalo-police- investigating-dam-
age-at-st-margaret-church/
(3) https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/brooklyn-synagogue- congre-
gation- beth-shalom-vandalized-with-hateful-message/

2025-S1252 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1252
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 8, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. ADDABBO -- 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 establishing a  rebuttable
   presumption  of  a hate crime when certain crimes are committed on, in
   or upon a house of worship

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Section 485.05 of the penal law is amended by adding a new
 subdivision 2-a to read as follows:
   2-A. ANY CRIME COMMITTED AS  DEFINED  IN  SUBDIVISION  THREE  OF  THIS
 SECTION THAT OCCURS ON, IN OR UPON A HOUSE OF WORSHIP CREATES A REBUTTA-
 BLE PRESUMPTION THAT IT IS A HATE CRIME.
   §  2.  Paragraph  (c)  of subdivision 4 of section 485.05 of the penal
 law, as amended by chapter 8 of the laws of 2019, is amended and  a  new
 paragraph (d) is added to read as follows:
   (c)  the  term "gender identity or expression" means a person's actual
 or perceived gender-related identity, appearance, behavior,  expression,
 or other gender-related characteristic regardless of the sex assigned to
 that person at birth, including, but not limited to, the status of being
 transgender[.];
   (D) "HOUSE OF WORSHIP" SHALL MEAN ANY STRUCTURE OR SITE USED PRIMARILY
 AS  A  PLACE  OF WORSHIP ON A PERMANENT BASIS BY A RECOGNIZED AND ESTAB-
 LISHED RELIGIOUS SECT OR DENOMINATION PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT THIS DEFI-
 NITION SHALL NOT INCLUDE ANY RELIGIOUS SITE  OR  STRUCTURE  USED  AS  A:
 SCHOOL, COLLEGE, HOSPITAL OR OTHER SIMILAR STRUCTURE OR SITE THAT IS NOT
 USED PRIMARILY FOR RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD03205-01-5

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