Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and a pair of Albany lawmakers on Monday pitched a new state law that would expand the list of hate crimes in the Empire State and boost certain punishments.
“Hate crimes have profound physical, emotional and psychological effects that jeopardize the safety of New Yorkers and tear at the fabric of our communities,” said District Attorney Bragg. “This legislation will strengthen our laws to reflect a clearer and better understanding of what constitutes a hate crime and give us more tools to bring hate crimes charges in the broad range of cases we see in our practice. I am proud to stand together with Senator Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Lee to combat discrimination and hate and I thank them for their work on this bill.”
A newly introduced bill dubbed the Hate Crime Modernization Act intends to expand what offenses are deemed hate crimes, namely by increasing the total range of eligible charges from 66 to 97. The legislation is sponsored by State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and State Assemblymember Grace Lee, with the backing of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
When three Upper East Side synagogues and one Hatzalah ambulance were tagged with antisemitic graffiti earlier this year, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg found that the act couldn’t be prosecuted as a hate crime. According to state law, graffiti isn’t eligible as a hate crime charge
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and a host of elected officials announced on Monday new legislation that would expand Hate Crime charges as biased attacks continue to rise in the Big Apple.
