On August 19, 2016, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill adding to the second-degree assault provisions of state Penal Law §120.05, the crime of inflicting an injury on process servers “with intent to prevent or obstruct” the performance of their duties.[1] The bill also stipulates that it should be considered assault by a person who seeks to prevent a process service from doing his job by “releasing or failing to control an animal” such as a dog.[2] New York is now the fourth state in the country to deem assault on a process server a felony—currently, California, Florida, and Illinois are the only states to have this legislation.[3] Previously, assault on a process server was only a misdemeanor, and in order for an officer to make an arrest, the officer must have witnessed it.[4]
Some of the other resolutions passed by the ABA’s Law Student Division include: urging a uniform and accurate translation of the Miranda Warnings in Spanish by federal, state, territorial and local law enforcement authorities, calling for abolishing “offender funded” systems of probation supervised by private, for profit companies, adding an anti-discrimination and anti-harassment provision to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the Student Empowerment Initiative, which reorganizes the executive structure of the division’s board of Governors.[5]
[1] Joel Stashenko, Assaulting a Process Server is Now a Crime in New York, NEW YORK LAW JOURNAL (Sept. 1, 2016) http://www.newyorklawjournal.com/home/id=1202766477863/Assaulting-a-Process-Server-Is-Now-a-Crime-in-New-York?mcode=1202615069279&curindex=2&slreturn=20160804233710.
[2] Id.
[3] Stephonie Irvine, New York Process Server Assault Bill Passes, SERVE-NOW.COM (July 3, 2016) https://www.serve-now.com/articles/2212/new-york-process-server-assault-bill-passes.
[4] Id.
[5] ABA Law Student Division: So Long., San Francisco! Another ABA Annual Meeting Ends (Aug. 11, 2016) http://abaforlawstudents.com/2016/08/11/2016-aba-annual-meeting-ends/