§ 28*2 — Civil arrest; certain locations

* § 28. Civil arrest; certain locations. 1. A person duly and in good\nfaith attending a court proceeding in which such person is a party or\npotential witness, or a family or household member is a party or\npotential witness, is privileged from civil arrest while going to,\nremaining at, and returning from, the place of such court proceeding,\nunless such civil arrest is supported by a judicial warrant or judicial\norder authorizing such civil arrest.\n 2. It is a contempt of the court and false imprisonment for any person\nto willfully violate subdivision one of this section, or an order of the\ncourt issued pursuant to section four-a of the judiciary law, by\nexecuting an arrest prohibited by subdivision one of this section or\nsection four-a of the judiciary law, or willfully assisting an arrest\nprohibited by subdivision one of this section or section four-a of the\njudiciary law; provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision shall\naffect any right or defense of any person, police officer, peace officer\nor public officer pursuant to article thirty-five of the penal law, or\nany unified court system personnel acting lawfully pursuant to their\nduty to maintain safety and order in the courts.\n 3. Regardless of whether a proceeding for contempt of the court\npursuant to subdivision two of this section has been initiated:\n (a) a person described in subdivision one of this section may bring a\ncivil action for appropriate equitable and declaratory relief if such\nperson has reasonable cause to believe a violation of subdivision one of\nthis section, as described in subdivision two of this section, or a\nviolation of section four-a of the judiciary law, has occurred or may\noccur; and\n (b) the attorney general may bring a civil action in the name of the\npeople of the state of New York to obtain appropriate equitable and\ndeclaratory relief if the attorney general has reasonable cause to\nbelieve that a violation of subdivision one of this section, as\ndescribed in subdivision two of this section, or a violation of section\nfour-a of the judiciary law, has occurred or may occur.\n 4. In any successful action pursuant to subdivision three of this\nsection, a plaintiff or petitioner may recover costs and reasonable\nattorney's fees.\n 5. Nothing in this section shall be construed to narrow, or in any way\nlessen, any common law or other right or privilege of a person\nprivileged from arrest pursuant to this article or otherwise.\n 6. As used in this section:\n (a) "civil arrest" shall mean an arrest that is not:\n (i) for the sole or primary purpose of preparing the person subject to\nsuch arrest for criminal prosecution, for an alleged violation of the\ncriminal law of:\n (A) this state, or another state, for which a sentence of a term of\nimprisonment is authorized by law; or\n (B) the United States, for which a sentence of a term of imprisonment\nis authorized by law, and for which federal law requires an initial\nappearance before a federal judge, federal magistrate or other judicial\nofficer, pursuant to the federal rules of criminal procedure that govern\ninitial appearances; or\n (ii) for contempt of the court in which the court proceeding is taking\nplace or will be taking place;\n (b) "court proceeding" shall mean any appearance in a court of this\nstate before a judge or justice or judicial magistrate of this state\nordered or scheduled by such judge or justice or judicial magistrate, or\nthe filing of papers designed to initiate such an appearance before a\njudge or justice or judicial magistrate of this state;\n (c) "family or household member" shall have the same meaning as in\nsubdivision two of section four hundred fifty-nine-a of the social\nservices law; and\n (d) "judicial warrant or judicial order authorizing such civil arrest"\nmeans an arrest warrant or other judicial order, issued by a magistrate\nsitting in the judicial branch of a local or state government or of the\nfederal government, authorizing a civil arrest and issued by the court\nin which proceedings following such arrest will be heard and determined.\n 7. No action or proceeding may be commenced pursuant to this section\nagainst the unified court system or any unified court system personnel\nacting lawfully pursuant to their duty to maintain safety and order in\nthe courts.\n * NB There are 2 § 28's\n