November 16, 2021 New Legislation Prohibiting Municipalities and Schools from Selling or Displaying Symbols of Hate
KEEPING YOU INFORMED…
We are writing to advise you that Governor Hochul recently signed amendments to the New York State General Municipal Law and Education Law that, effective immediately, prohibit the sale and display of hate symbols.
The new laws prohibit any county, town, village, city, BOCES, other special district or any office or agency thereof, as well as school districts, fire districts, volunteer fire companies and police departments, from selling or displaying any “symbols of hate,” any similar images or any tangible personal property inscribed with “symbols of hate.”
For purposes of the new laws, “symbols of hate” include, but are not limited to, “symbols of white supremacy, neo-Nazi ideology or the Battle Flag of the Confederacy.”
There is, however, an exception for an image that appears “in a book, digital medium, museum, or otherwise serves an educational or historical purpose.”
If you have questions regarding this new legislation, please contact Alyssa L. Zuckerman (alz@lambbarnosky.com), Adam S. Ross (asr@lambbarnosky.com) or one of our other attorneys at 631-694-2300.
THIS MEMORANDUM IS MEANT TO ASSIST IN GENERAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE CURRENT LAW. IT IS NOT TO BE REGARDED AS LEGAL ADVICE. THOSE WITH PARTICULAR QUESTIONS SHOULD SEEK THE ADVICE OF COUNSEL.
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© Lamb & Barnosky, LLP 2021