Family Offense Statute Declared Unconstitutional

In People v Golb, ___NY3d __,2014 WL 1883943 (2014) the Court of Appeals held that (Penal Law § 240.30(1)(a), aggravated harassment in the Second Degree   was unconstitutional, under both Federal and State law because it was vague and overbroad.  The statute, which is frequently invoked in family offense proceedings, provides that “[a] person is guilty of aggravated harassment in the second degree when, with intent to harass, annoy, threaten or alarm another person, he or she ... communicates with a person, anonymously or otherwise, by telephone, by telegraph, or by mail, or by transmitting or delivering any other form of written communication, in a manner likely to cause annoyance or alarm..” The Court noted that three federal judges have already found this statute unconstitutional.