New York A 1565: Establishes the homeless protection act which designates certain offenses against homeless persons as hate crimes

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A01565 Summary:

BILL NOA01565 

&nbsp

SAME ASSAME AS S05816

&nbsp

SPONSORRosenthal

&nbsp

COSPNSRHevesi, Meeks, Taylor, Epstein, Simon, Simone, Levenberg, Mamdani, Seawright, Reyes, Kelles, Tapia,
 Cruz, Stirpe, Davila

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

Amd §485.05, Pen L; amd §837, Exec L

&nbsp

Establishes the homeless protection act which designates certain offenses against homeless persons as hate crimes; includes the definition of homelessness.

Go to top A01565 Actions:

BILL NOA01565 

&nbsp

01/10/2025referred to codes

01/07/2026referred to codes

Go to topA01565 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topA01565 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topA01565 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 1565

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN ASSEMBLY

 January 10, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL, HEVESI, MEEKS, TAYLOR, EPSTEIN, SIMON,
 SIMONE, LEVENBERG, MAMDANI, SEAWRIGHT, REYES, KELLES, TAPIA -- read
 once and referred to the Committee on Codes

 AN ACT to amend the penal law and the executive law, in relation to
 designating offenses against homeless persons as hate crimes

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
 2 the "homeless protection act".
 3 § 2. Subdivisions 1, 2 and 4 of section 485.05 of the penal law, as
 4 amended by chapter 8 of the laws of 2019, are amended to read as
 5 follows:
 6 1. A person commits a hate crime when [he or she] such person commits
 7 a specified offense and either:
 8 (a) intentionally selects the person against whom the offense is
 9 committed or intended to be committed in whole or in substantial part
 10 because of a belief or perception regarding the race, color, national
 11 origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, reli-
 12 gious practice, age, disability, homelessness, or sexual orientation of
 13 a person, regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct, or
 14 (b) intentionally commits the act or acts constituting the offense in
 15 whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding
 16 the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or
 17 expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability, homelessness,
 18 or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether the belief or
 19 perception is correct.
 20 2. Proof of race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender
 21 identity or expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability,
 22 homelessness, or sexual orientation of the defendant, the victim or of
 23 both the defendant and the victim does not, by itself, constitute legal-

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD04221-01-5

 A. 1565 2

 1 ly sufficient evidence satisfying the people's burden under paragraph
 2 (a) or (b) of subdivision one of this section.
 3 4. For purposes of this section:
 4 (a) the term "age" means sixty years old or more;
 5 (b) the term "disability" means a physical or mental impairment that
 6 substantially limits a major life activity;
 7 (c) the term "gender identity or expression" means a person's actual
 8 or perceived gender-related identity, appearance, behavior, expression,
 9 or other gender-related characteristic regardless of the sex assigned to
 10 that person at birth, including, but not limited to, the status of being
 11 transgender[.]; and
 12 (d) the term "homelessness" means the set of circumstances in which an
 13 individual or family lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime
 14 residence, resides in a place not designed for or ordinarily used as a
 15 regular sleeping accommodation for human beings, such as a car, public
 16 sidewalk or street, hallway, bus or train station, lobby or similar
 17 place, resides in a residential program for victims of domestic violence
 18 or runaway and homeless youth, or resides in a supervised publicly or
 19 privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living arrange-
 20 ments, including hotels and motels paid for by federal, state, or local
 21 government programs or by charitable organ