NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A7581
SPONSOR: Buttenschon
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to unlawful dissemination of
a personal image
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to amend Chapter 30 of the Laws of 2023 to
effectuate the intent of the law.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 - The opening paragraph of paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of
section 250.70 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 30 of the laws of
2023, is amended to change an incorrect reference of section 270.71 to
read as section 250.71 of this article.
Section 2 - Establishes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Both Bianca Devins and Caroline Wimmer were brutally murdered and their
families suffered immensely due to the images of their murders being
disseminated throughout not just their communities but all over social
media nationally.
In March 2009, a 26 year-old woman named Caroline Wimmer was brutally
murdered in her West Brighton, Staten Island apartment. Caroline was a
charming and fun-loving young woman, popular amongst her friends and
beloved by her family. Caroline's horrified mother found her on the
floor of her bathroom; emergency personnel arrived on the scene shortly
after. Inexplicably and shockingly, one of the EMTs on the scene took a
picture of Caroline and later posted it on his Facebook page.
This bill makes changes to Chapter 805 of the Laws of 2022 to ensure
that images or videos of individuals who have been a victim of a crime
are not published on social media platforms to further degrade or cause
even more harm.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to have been
in full force and effect on the same date and in the same manner as
chapter 805 of the laws of 2022, took effect.