Key legislators
Who's moving criminal justice in New York
Showing 11–16 of 16
bills
All criminal justice bills
This bill creates a new criminal offense called "vehicular homicide" for drivers who cause another person's death through reckless conduct showing extreme disregard for human life. It directly affects drivers whose actions - like severe speeding or ignoring traffic signals - result in fatalities, even if they didn’t intend to cause death. The law classifies vehicular homicide as a class B felony, the same penalty as second-degree murder in New York, making it a serious criminal charge. This change would replace or add to existing laws for deaths caused by negligent or reckless driving.
Establishes the offense of aggravated reckless driving and allows for the seizure and forfeiture of vehicles used in connection with reckless driving or aggravated reckless driving.
Enacts "CJ's law" in relation to increasing the penalties for leaving the scene of an accident without reporting where such accident resulted in the death of a minor to a class C felony punishable by a fine of not less than four thousand nor more than eight thousand dollars in addition to any other penalties provided by law.
The Vehicular Violence Accountability Act (S 2114) defines vehicular violence and establishes new related offenses. The bill requires prospective drivers to learn about vehicular violence through new components in driver's license tests and pre-licensing courses. These courses will educate applicants on the dangers of vehicular crimes that cause injury or death to another individual. Additionally, it creates a new article in the penal law, outlining specific crimes such as serious physical injury or death by vehicle.
This bill increases maximum fines for corporations convicted of crimes under New York's criminal law. It raises the top fine for felony convictions from $10,000 to $80,000 and for certain serious misdemeanors from $5,000 to $40,000. For offenses where fines are based on corporate gain, the maximum now triples that gain amount. Signed into law in October 2025, it directly affects corporations found guilty of criminal offenses in New York.
Bill S 3831 amends the state's penal law regarding the crime of persistent sexual abuse. Currently, a person can be charged with persistent sexual abuse if they commit certain sexual abuse offenses and have two or more prior convictions for similar crimes within a ten-year period, excluding time incarcerated. This bill removes that ten-year time limit for prior convictions. As a result, any qualifying past convictions, regardless of when they occurred, would count towards a charge of persistent sexual abuse, affecting how individuals with multiple past sexual abuse convictions are prosecuted for subsequent offenses.
