§ 90 — Legislative findings

New York § 90

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law CVR: Civil Rights
• Art. 9: Right to Call Police and Emergency Assistance/victim Protections

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§ 90. Legislative findings. No victim of domestic violence, or other\nperson threatened with violence or in jeopardy of harm, should fail to\naccess police or emergency assistance when needed because of the fear\nthat doing so may result in losing their housing through eviction or\nother actions to remove them from the property. Some local laws or\npolicies have the effect of treating such requests for police or\nemergency aid as a disturbance constituting a "public nuisance" or\notherwise treating the individual faced with the violence and in need of\nassistance as an undesirable tenant or undesirable influence on the\nneighborhood based upon a call for help to their home. Legislation is\nneeded to assure that victims of violence or threats of harm or violence\nare not penalized in relation to any law enforcement activity and\nintervention necessary to address offender accountability and victim\nsafety.\n Municipalities throughout the state have increasingly begun to adopt\nlocal laws and ordinances to address public nuisances or other\nintrusions on the quiet enjoyment of their residents and communities.\nDespite their intent to aid communities, overly broad ordinances have\ninstead had a harmful chilling effect deterring victims of violence and\ncrime from accessing police assistance and have jeopardized public\nsafety. They also can unfairly penalize landlords when their tenants\nneed emergency assistance. Courts in New York and other states have\nfound such public ordinances to be unconstitutional because of these\nharms. Moreover, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development\nissued guidance in 2016 on how these ordinances can violate the Fair\nHousing Act's prohibitions on discrimination based on sex, race,\ndisability, and national origin.\n Given the negative impact that certain provisions have on the\ncommunity at large, and to victims of crime in particular, remedial\nlegislation is necessary that will both protect the rights of domestic\nviolence and crime victims and others to access essential police and\nemergency assistance, as well as preserve the locality's right to\naddress conduct that may undermine the community's safety or integrity.\n The legislature therefore finds that it is desirable to clarify the\nlaw in this area in order to protect people from violence and crime.\n The legislature further finds that there is a need to assure that\nvictims of violence, including persons threatened with harm or violence,\nhave a clear right to access assistance to protect personal or public\nsafety.\n The legislature further finds that clarification in this area will\nadvance the state's interest in stopping crime and further the aims of\npenal laws that depend on citizens to report incidents of crime to law\nenforcement.\n The legislature finally finds that there is a need to assure that\npeople who need emergency assistance, including persons with\ndisabilities, have a clear right to access assistance without fear of\npenalty or reprisal.\n With this remedial legislation the legislature specifically intends\nthat the coverage of this article includes, but is not limited to, laws\nor ordinances that use any form of cumulative point system for the\npurpose of identifying any persons or properties who or which would be\nsubject to municipal enforcement action.\n