S 8682 New York Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Repeals the criminal fortune telling statute; repealer

This bill repeals New York's criminal fortune telling statute (Penal Law § 165.35), which previously prohibited fortune telling as a criminal offense. It directly removes the legal prohibition itself, eliminating the specific law that could have been used to penalize such activities. The bill contains no new provisions or mechanisms - it solely deletes the existing statute from the penal code. This is a procedural repeal with no direct impact on current individuals or practices, as it only removes the outdated legal framework.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 7, 2026 Last action Jan 29, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

S8682 → S8682A · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was significantly simplified and narrowed in scope. The original version added new regulations to the executive law governing deceptive practices in spiritual or metaphysical services, while the new version only repeals an existing fortune-telling provision in the penal law. This represents a major policy shift from creating new consumer protections to removing outdated criminal penalties.

Scope change

The bill's scope changed from adding new regulatory authority over spiritual and metaphysical services to solely repealing penal law provisions related to fortune telling.

SCOPE

Removed new section 63-e to the executive law that would have regulated deceptive practices in spiritual, metaphysical, and divinatory services, including provisions for attorney general enforcement and private civil actions.

ENFORCEMENT

Removed provisions allowing the attorney general to investigate and bring actions for injunctive relief, restitution, damages, disgorgement, and civil penalties up to $5,000 per violation for deceptive spiritual services.

ELIGIBILITY

Removed private right of action allowing injured consumers to sue for actual damages, $1,000 minimum damages, attorneys' fees, and punitive damages for violations of spiritual services regulations.

TIMELINE

Changed the effective date from 90 days after becoming law to immediate effect.

TECHNICAL

Removed severability clause and other standard legislative boilerplate provisions.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Jan 29, 2026

Upper · Passed

PRINT NUMBER 8682A

upper

Jan 29, 2026

Upper · Passed

AMEND (T) AND RECOMMIT TO CODES

upper

Jan 7, 2026

Committee

REFERRED TO CODES

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors