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• May 16, 2008 6:24 am US/Eastern
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  Anti-Noose Law Passed In New York

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Anti-Noose Law Passed In New York

Displaying Symbol Of Hate As A Threat Now A Felony

Punishable By Up To 4 Years In Prison

ALBANY, N.Y. (CBS) ― A new anti-noose law is now on the books in New York state. On Thursday, Gov. David Paterson signed a bill into legislation making it a felony to threaten someone by displaying a noose.

The law comes in the wake of several high-profile incidents involving nooses in the state in recent years. The crime carries a sentence of up to four years in prison.

"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."

Paterson says the legislation still isn't enough and New York law will need to be strengthened more.

Nooses were found last year on a black professor's door at Columbia University, outside a post office near ground zero in lower Manhattan and in locations on Long Island.

The symbol of lynchings has shown up in other high-profile incidents around the country -- in a black Coast Guard cadet's bag, on a Maryland college campus, and in the Jena Six case in Louisiana, where six black teenagers were charged with beating a white student. The incident happened after nooses were hung from a tree on a high school campus there.

New York isn't the first state to consider making it a crime to threaten with a noose, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Connecticut passed a bill this year making it a misdemeanor unless property is damage, which would be a felony. At least two other states, Louisiana and Maryland, have considered similar legislation.

In New York, the current crime of aggravated harassment in the first degree applies to conduct committed with intent to harass, annoy, threaten or alarm a victim chosen for reasons of bias.

The conduct already covered includes the display of swastikas on property without the permission of the property owner and also the burning of crosses.

This adds the display of a noose to the existing law.

"We cannot stand by while our fellow New Yorkers are subjected to threats and intimidation through display of historic symbols of hatred," said Sen. Dean Skelos, a Long Island Republican who sponsored the Senate version.

(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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