S 1252: Establishes a rebuttable presumption of a hate crime when certain crimes are committed on, in or upon a house of worship.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1252 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE 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: 1 Section 1. Section 485.05 of the penal law is amended by adding a new 2 subdivision 2-a to read as follows: 3 2-a. Any crime committed as defined in subdivision three of this 4 section that occurs on, in or upon a house of worship creates a rebutta- 5 ble presumption that it is a hate crime. 6 § 2. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 4 of section 485.05 of the penal 7 law, as amended by chapter 8 of the laws of 2019, is amended and a new 8 paragraph (d) is added to read as follows: 9 (c) the term "gender identity or expression" means a person's actual 10 or perceived gender-related identity, appearance, behavior, expression, 11 or other gender-related characteristic regardless of the sex assigned to 12 that person at birth, including, but not limited to, the status of being 13 transgender[.]; 14 (d) "House of worship" shall mean any structure or site used primarily 15 as a place of worship on a permanent basis by a recognized and estab- 16 lished religious sect or denomination provided, however, that this defi- 17 nition shall not include any religious site or structure used as a: 18 school, college, hospital or other similar structure or site that is not 19 used primarily for religious worship. 20 § 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