Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone
New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed Caroline’s/Bianca’s Law into law today, making it a criminal offense to disseminate images of the victim of a criminal offense. The law was enacted by the state legislature last June after more than a decade of lobbying by the family of Caroline Wimmer, and more recently by the family of Bianca Devins.
Both women were murdered, and photos of their bodies were shared on social media. The Wimmer case involved a photo taken by New York City EMT who responded to her murder in 2009, took a cellphone photo of her body, and later posted it to Facebook. Wimmer family sought a law that would have limited phototaking by emergency responders.
The Devins case was quite different, and promted the legislature to go in an entirely different direction. After she was murdered in 2019, the murderer posted photos of her body on social media. The combination of the two cases caused the state legislature to move away from focusing on photo-taking by emergency responders and toward penalizing the dissemination of photos of the victims of criminal offenses by anyone.
Here is the law:
§ 250.71 Unlawful dissemination of a personal image in the third degree.
A person is guilty of unlawful dissemination of a personal image in the third degree when, with the intent of humiliating, demeaning, degrading or abusing a person who has been the victim of an offense described in title H of this part, or otherwise causing harm to the emotional, financial or physical welfare of such victim or such victim’s family, or when, for his or her own, or another person’s amusement, entertainment or profit, he or she intentionally:
1. (a) creates and disseminates or publishes a still or video image of such victim, without the victim’s consent, in a manner that has no or limited cultural or social value; and
(b) the victim is identifiable from the still or video image itself or from information displayed in connection with the still or video image; and
(c) the image depicts the commission of the offense against the victim or physical injury suffered by the victim as a result of the commission of the offense; or
2. acting as an agent of a person who creates an image as described in subdivision one of this section, he or she disseminates or publishes such image.
Unlawful dissemination of a personal image in the third degree is a class B misdemeanor.
§ 250.72 Unlawful dissemination of a personal image in the second degree.
A person is guilty of unlawful dissemination of a personal image in the second degree when he or she commits the offense of unlawful dissemination of a personal image in the third degree and:
1. he or she committed, participated in the commission of, or conspired to commit the offense against the victim; or
2. the victim suffered serious physical injury which is depicted in the unlawfully disseminated image; or
3. he or she has been convicted within the previous ten years of unlawful dissemination of a personal image in the third degree.
Unlawful dissemination of a personal image in the second degree is a class A misdemeanor.
§ 250.73 Unlawful dissemination of a personal image in the first degree.
A person is guilty of dissemination of an unlawful dissemination of a personal image in the first degree when he or she commits the offense of unlawful dissemination of a personal image in the third degree and:
1. he or she committed, participated in the commission of, or conspired to commit an offense described in article one hundred twenty- five of this part against the victim; or
2. the victim suffered death or serious physical injury as a result of the application of deadly physical force and such injury, death or the application of deadly physical force is depicted in the unlawfully disseminated image; or
3. he or she has been convicted within the previous ten years of unlawful dissemination of a personal image in the second degree.
Unlawful dissemination of a personal image in the first degree is a class E felony.
