New York law has special provisions for crimes that are committed or attempted because of a victim’s race, gender, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, or religion. More specifically, Section 485 of the New York Penal Law provides that: Under the law a person commits a hate crime when he or she commits a specified offense and either:
- intentionally selects the person against whom the offense is committed or intended to be committed in whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct, or
- intentionally commits the act or acts constituting the offense in whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether the belief or perception
The law defines a “specified offense” to include many crimes defined under the Penal Law, including but not limited to murder, rape, sexual assaults, menacing and reckless endangerment. Attempt or conspiracy to commit these offenses may also constitute a hate crime. In general, classification as a hate crime increases the possible sentence that would be imposed on the specified offense if it did not otherwise meet the definition of a hate crime.
For the full text of the statute, which defines special offenses and provides sentencing information, see Section 485 of the New York State Penal Law.