The laws have changed in those 5 years.

This opinion article from the NY Post explains it in vivid language, but the underlying facts are undeniable: https://nypost.com/2023/01/19/new-yorks-discovery-laws-are-designed-to-let-criminals-go-free/

>The study points out that in New York City in 2019, before discovery reform, 49% of misdemeanor cases resulted in dismissals. In 2021, that number soared to 82%. In 2022, it was 74%. Defendants are, unsurprisingly, playing out the clock.

As opposed to the 2040 where due to crime there are no more stores left in your neighborhood except for one 10 blocks away where you have to show ID, they only let one person in at a time, the cashier is behind bullet proof glass, and every single item is locked up and requires a staff member to open it...

You’ll have to explain exactly what you mean by “criminally inclined.” People are definitely being prosecuted for retail theft. How often and to what degree I don’t readily have that information at my fingertips. If you do, please share it.

The rate of case dismissal before any trial or plea deal could happen skyrocketed after the NY discovery law reform was enacted.

Good question.

As a reminder, state law already allows retailers to physically detain shoplifters

I was at some of the protests that these lawsuits center around.

The NYPD had hundreds of officers in riot gear responding to peaceful protestors marching while actual looting took place maybe a mile away in Soho.

Conservatives like to conflate the two (protests and looting) but what I witnessed was completely peaceful protestors being attacked by police (charging at us in riot gear, knocking people down, hitting them, and arresting them) while store windows were being smashed with no police response a short distance away by organized groups.

I think it’s pretty obvious that the police wanted the looting to happen to discredit the protests. And that getting a chance to attack people who were criticizing them was just the cherry on top.

If two drunks get into an escalated bar fight and they end up assaulting each other (let's say they attack each other with broken bottles, both get cuts and stabs, and are sent to the hospital for stiches and blood loss without any serious permanent injuries), that could be misdemeanor assault under NY Law. That's ugly and probably regrettable, but not enough to send them to prison for a drunk night "mistake".

That's still very different than a violent person injuring someone who is just working on a retail store, resulting them into being sent to a hospital.

I think this bill idea strikes a very timid and cautious approach in making that distinction clearer, which is not too bad if they are trying to avoid a draconian law or something.

In my opinion, it should be extended to other workers, and it should be extended to people commuting to/from work or school, and people going to/from medical appointments. I hope in a future bill.

These payments are just cost of squashing protest. Not a deterrent to politicians just something they have to budget for instead of enacting changes they don’t want to do.

We need to bust the police union. Anyone on the force should be able to be fired for any reason whatsoever. And none of this administrative leave bullshit. Oh, you're not doing your job? Bye, go find work in Elizabeth or Cleveland.

It's sooooooo fucking stupid that taxpayers are constantly on the hook for police misconduct yet nobody on the force ever pays a price for it.

>You lose your temper and slap the person in the face. That’s Assault.

The "slap" needs to result into an injury, otherwise it's not assault.

Like if the victim is slapped near the subway platform edge, then fall over as a result, and fractures a leg during the fall, then that could be potentially considered a misdemeanor assault.

It’s time to tie malpractice insurance to policing.

Haha right

If you were criminally inclined, would you not act on it more often if you knew you wouldn’t be prosecuted?

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Fuck DeBlasio and Shea for defending this when it happened.

Don't forget that the NYPD chose to direct their resources to engage in this misconduct in the South Bronx while leaving looters in Soho to their own devices that same night.

Kettling these protestors was never about public safety, it was about the NYPD putting on a show of force against protestors demanding police accountability. When that didn't work out for them, they just stopped doing their jobs.

The NYPD is a fundamentally broken organization, and as long as the taxpayer keeps footing the bill for misconduct nothing will change.

next time there is a protest give me a heads up. I will get my ass kicked for you all

>Any intentional physical touch can be considered assault.

You must be thinking of a different state other than NY.

Under NY Law, assault requires physical injury. If someone was merely touched, the prosecution will have a really hard time proving beyond all reasonable doubt there was injury caused by it.

Edit: for clarity, if this bill idea was enacted into law, merely touching a retail workers would hardly constitute assault because it requires physical injury, and this bill would make no difference in practice.

>Or ‘Sorry sir, I fell over and my fist fell into her face.’

That would probably not be assault under NY law.

But if the defendant was for example a tiktok prankster running after people while a carrying chainsaw (but without the intent of actually hurting anyone), and fell over and injured someone with it, that could be considered a misdemeanor assault because of the recklessness.

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/120.00

So maybe we should have the definition of assault first

Read story here for free

>New York City has agreed to pay $21,500 to each of hundreds of demonstrators who were penned in by the police in the Bronx during racial justice protests in 2020, then charged at or beaten with batons, according to a legal settlement.

>If a judge approves the settlement filed in federal court late Tuesday, the amount would be one of the highest ever awarded per person in a class action case of mass arrests, and could cost the city between $4 million and $6 million.

>The case concerned roughly 300 people who were arrested on June 4, 2020, in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx during protests against the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers the week before. His death set off protests across the country, including in New York, where thousands of people demonstrated in May and June.

NY law doesn't have battery. This is the definition of the least severe assault (which is not a felony):

1. With intent to cause physical injury to another person, he causes such injury to such person or to a third person; or
2. He recklessly causes physical injury to another person; or
3. With criminal negligence, he causes physical injury to another person by means of a deadly weapon or a dangerous instrument.

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/120.00

Yes, because one business claiming this is not representative of all businesses and they also didn’t do a breakdown of NYC specifically. Also, large corporations are able to eat shoplifting costs, unlike small mom and pop businesses.

>it’s not like people can reasonably say ‘Sorry sir, I didn’t know I couldn’t punch her.’

>Or ‘Sorry sir, I fell over and my fist fell into her face.’

Technically under common law that's battery, not assault. Assault is the crime of making someone reasonably believe that they are at risk of harm, so for example throwing a rock at someone is still assault even if it doesn't actually hit them. The reason assault is charged more often than battery is simply because it's easier to prove.