The pending prosecution of a SUNY Purchase student raises questions about the constitutionality of §240.31(3) of the New York Penal Law.

According to a felony complaint filed on Dec. 11, 2018, in the town court of the Town of Harrison, an 18-year-old student at SUNY Purchase posted multiple flyers containing swastikas and other symbols of Nazi Germany on bulletin boards on the SUNY campus during the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. The prosecution further alleged that the defendant did so with the intent to cause alarm, fear, and annoyance to members of the campus community.