Bill > A09127

This bill modifies several aspects of New York criminal law by expanding bail eligibility, hate crime classifications, and penalty severities for specific offenses related to threats and harassment. The bill adds aggravated threat of mass harm, making a threat of mass harm, aggravated harassment in the second and first degrees, harassment in the first degree, and various degrees of menacing to the list of offenses that can be considered for bail, allowing judges more discretion in pretrial release decisions. The legislation also expands the definition of specified offenses that can be considered hate crimes to include new threat-related statutes, specifically adding sections about making a threat of mass harm and aggravated threat of mass harm. Additionally, the bill increases the penalties for these threat-related offenses, upgrading making a threat of mass harm from a class B to a class A misdemeanor and elevating aggravated threat of mass harm from a class A misdemeanor to a class E felony. These changes aim to provide law enforcement and the judicial system with more tools to address and prevent potential mass harm threats, while also allowing for more nuanced responses to such offenses based on their specific circumstances.

Housing and Urban Affairs

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A9127