Using noose to intimidate now a felony
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- May
- 15
Painting, drawing or otherwise placing or displaying a noose is now aÂÂ felony under New York law—punishable by up to four years in prison.
Gov. David Paterson signed the legislation that was proposed in the state after the well-publicized “Jena 6” case in Louisiana and two cases in New York—one noose was found in the locker room at the Hempstead Police Department on Long Island, and another was on the door of a Columbia University Teachers College professor. In Louisiana,ÂÂ white students hung nooses from a tree and black students were charged with second-degree attempted murder when they attacked a white boy who had been taunting them.
“It is sad that in these modern times there remains a need to address the problem of individuals who use nooses as a means of threat and intimidation,” Paterson said in a statement. “But it is a reality, and if we ignore it we would be derelict in our duty.”
The new law takes effect in November. Legislation passed in 2006 prohibited the use of swastikas as a means of intimidation.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, May 15th, 2008 at 4:12 pm by Cara Matthews.
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“Painting or drawing.” That could violate the Constitution.
There should be a careful reading of this bill. It could be so far “out there” that airing Gary Cooper’s movie “The Hanging Tree” and playing Marty Robbins’ hit song of the same name could now violate NY law. Just making a point.
there is a difference between painting a noose and putting
that image up in order to harass or incite or intimidate
surely painting a noose in a drawing that is used for example to portray sadam hussein’s execution can’t possibly
violate any law..I know what the governor is getting at
and the law should have in it a provision that couples
the noose with the “intent” to annoy harass or alarm
another person….as a bias crime..etc..but you cannot
restrict painting even a swastica if it is not displayed
for an unlawful or biased purpose ..ie a teacher should
be able to put one on the blackboard to demonstrate symbols
of evil..
So what are they going to do about the millions of schoolbooks that have illustrations and or photos of the Salem Witch Trials or the KKK?