A 196: Enacts the "dialogue and decorum act" which establishes the crime of disruption or disturbance of a lawful assembly; makes such crime an unclassified misdemeanor.
The Dialogue 2 and Decorum Act aims to establish a new crime, disruption or disturbance of a lawful assembly. A person is guilty of this offense if they willfully disturb or break up a lawful assembly without authority. The term "lawful assembly" refers to a group of individuals who reserve a space to peacefully assemble for a purpose not prohibited by law. The act defines "willful disturbance" as conduct that substantially impairs the ability to conduct a meeting or assembly, or violates the implicit customs or usage of the specific meeting or assembly. Disregarding a moderator's call to order or a determination that a person is in violation of the rules is considered proof of a willful disruption. The act prohibits the prohibition of persons articulating a particular viewpoint at a lawful assembly and non-disruptive protests. The offense is an unclassified misdemeanor punishable by a…
| Jan. 07, 2026 | referred to codes |
| Jan. 08, 2025 | referred to codes |
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 196 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. BERGER, HEVESI, BICHOTTE HERMELYN, EICHENSTEIN, BRAUNSTEIN, DINOWITZ, PHEFFER AMATO, WILLIAMS, EACHUS, CUNNINGHAM, STIRPE, JONES, COLTON, PAULIN, SANTABARBARA, STERN, ROZIC, SHIMSKY, ANGELINO, BENEDETTO, BUTTENSCHON, RIVERA, FALL, BLUMENCRANZ -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing the crime of disruption or disturbance of a lawful assembly The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "dialogue 2 and decorum act". 3 § 2. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 240.22 to read 4 as follows: 5 § 240.22 Disruption or disturbance of a lawful assembly. 6 1. A person is guilty of disruption or disturbance of a lawful assem- 7 bly when such person, without authority of law, willfully disturbs or 8 breaks up any assembly or meeting that is not unlawful in its character. 9 2. For purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the 10 following meanings: 11 (a) "Willfully disturbs" shall mean: 12 (i) the conduct substantially impairs the ability to conduct a lawful 13 meeting or assembly; and 14 (ii) the conduct is in violation of the implicit customs or usage of 15 the specific kind of meeting or assembly, or the explicit rules govern- 16 ing the meeting or assembly, where the disrupting party knew or reason- 17 ably should have known such conduct was in violation. 18 (b) "Lawful assembly" shall mean a group of two or more individuals 19 who legally reserve a space or area with an institution or other space 20 lawfully available to those conducting such assembly or meeting, and who EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00823-01-5A. 196 2 1 use such space or area to peacefully assemble for any purpose not 2 expressly prohibited by law. 3 3. Disregard of a moderator's call to order or a determination that a 4 person is in violation of the rules of an assembly or meeting shall be 5 proof that a disruption is willful. 6 4. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prohibit: 7 (i) persons from articulating a particular viewpoint at an assembly or 8 meeting that is not unlawful in its character; or 9 (ii) non-disruptive protests of a lawful assembly or meeting; 10 Disruption or disturbance of a lawful assembly is an unclassified 11 misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than two hundred fifty 12 dollars nor more than five hundred dollars. 13 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.