N.Y. Penal Law § 485.00: Legislative findings

§ 485.00 Legislative findings.

The legislature finds and determines as follows: criminal acts

involving violence, intimidation and destruction of property based upon

bias and prejudice have become more prevalent in New York state in

recent years. The intolerable truth is that in these crimes, commonly

and justly referred to as "hate crimes", victims are intentionally

selected, in whole or in part, because of their race, color, national

origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, religion,

religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation. Hate crimes

do more than threaten the safety and welfare of all citizens. They

inflict on victims incalculable physical and emotional damage and tear

at the very fabric of free society. Crimes motivated by invidious hatred

toward particular groups not only harm individual victims but send a

powerful message of intolerance and discrimination to all members of the

group to which the victim belongs. Hate crimes can and do intimidate and

disrupt entire communities and vitiate the civility that is essential to

healthy democratic processes. In a democratic society, citizens cannot

be required to approve of the beliefs and practices of others, but must

never commit criminal acts on account of them. However, these criminal

acts do occur and are occurring more and more frequently. Quite often,

these crimes of hate are also acts of terror. The recent attacks in

Monsey, New York as well as the shootings in El Paso, Texas; Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania; Sutherland Springs, Texas; Orlando, Florida; and

Charleston, South Carolina illustrate that mass killings are often

apolitical, motivated by the hatred of a specific group coupled with a

desire to inflict mass casualties. The current law emphasizes the

political motivation of an act over its catastrophic effect and does not

adequately recognize the harm to public order and individual safety that

hate crimes cause. Therefore, our laws must be strengthened to provide

clear recognition of the gravity of hate crimes and the compelling

importance of preventing their recurrence.

Accordingly, the legislature finds and declares that hate crimes

should be prosecuted and punished with appropriate severity.