New York State Bar Association Calls for More Offenses To Be Added to Hate Crime Statute in Face of Rising Antisemitic, Anti-Asian Hate
1.19.2024
In the face of an alarming rise of hate crimes across the state and nation, the New York State Bar Association is calling for a much-needed update of New York State law through the Hate Crimes Modernization Act. The act would expand the list of hate-crime-eligible offenses to include charges such as graffiti, criminal obstruction of breathing, and rape in the third degree.
This is one of the recommendations of the association’s Task Force on Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Asian Hate. Others focus on improving the reporting and prosecution of hate crimes, as well as preventing the spread of hate speech on the internet. The association’s governing body, the House of Delegates, approved the report on Friday, Jan. 19.
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the Anti-Defamation League has documented 832 antisemitic incidents of assault, vandalism, and harassment across the United States in the month after for an average of nearly 28 incidents a day. Even before Oct. 7, the ADL documented that antisemitic hate crimes steadily rose throughout the past decade.
Anti-Asian hate crimes in New York City, meanwhile, increased by 800% in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. And while the pandemic has slowed, anti-Asian hate has not – including the death of Jasmer Singh in a road rage attack in Queens on Oct. 19, 2023.
“Hate does not belong in our communities, and the victims of hate crimes – no matter what their race or religion is — need the law to take their pain seriously,” said Richard Lewis, president of the New York State Bar Association. “As antisemitism and anti-Asian hate have increased, this has become more important. I thank the task force for their thorough…
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