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91_SB1273
LRB9109312RCks
1 AN ACT to amend the Harassing and Obscene Communications
2 Act by changing Sections 1-1, 1-2, and 2.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Harassing and Obscene Communications Act
6 is amended by changing Sections 1-1, 1-2, and 2 as follows:
7 (720 ILCS 135/1-1) (from Ch. 134, par. 16.4-1)
8 Sec. 1-1. Harassment by telephone). Harassment by
9 telephone is use of telephone communication for any of the
10 following purposes:
11 (1) Making any comment, request, suggestion or proposal
12 which is obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy or indecent with
13 an intent to offend; or
14 (2) Making a telephone call, whether or not conversation
15 ensues, with intent to abuse, threaten or harass any person
16 at the called number; or
17 (3) Making or causing the telephone of another
18 repeatedly to ring, with intent to harass any person at the
19 called number; or
20 (4) Making repeated telephone calls, during which
21 conversation ensues, solely to harass any person at the
22 called number; or
23 (4.1) Knowingly inducing a person to make a telephone
24 call for the purpose of harassing another person who is at
25 least 13 years of age without that person's consent; or
26 (4.2) Knowingly inducing a person to make a telephone
27 call for the purpose of harassing another person who is under
28 13 years of age, regardless of whether the person under 13
29 years of age consents to the harassment; or
30 (4.3) Knowingly making a telephone call and
31 impersonating another person with the intent to harass that
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1 person; or
2 (5) Knowingly permitting any telephone under one's
3 control to be used for any of the purposes mentioned herein.
4 Every telephone directory published for distribution to
5 members of the general public shall contain a notice setting
6 forth a summary of the provisions of this Section. Such
7 notice shall be printed in type which is no smaller than any
8 other type on the same page and shall be preceded by the word
9 "WARNING". All telephone companies in this State shall
10 cooperate with law enforcement agencies in using their
11 facilities and personnel to detect and prevent violations of
12 this Act.
13 (Source: P.A. 80-795.)
14 (720 ILCS 135/1-2)
15 Sec. 1-2. Harassment through electronic communications.
16 (a) Harassment through electronic communications is the
17 use of electronic communication for any of the following
18 purposes:
19 (1) Making any comment, request, suggestion or
20 proposal which is obscene with an intent to offend;
21 (2) Interrupting, with the intent to harass, the
22 telephone service or the electronic communication service
23 of any person;
24 (3) Transmitting to any person, with the intent to
25 harass and regardless of whether the communication is
26 read in its entirety or at all, any file, document, or
27 other communication which prevents that person from using
28 his or her telephone service or electronic communications
29 device;
30 (3.1) Knowingly inducing a person to transmit an
31 electronic communication for the purpose of harassing
32 another person who is at least 13 years of age without
33 that person's consent;
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1 (3.2) Knowingly inducing a person to transmit an
2 electronic communication for the purpose of harassing
3 another person who is under 13 years of age, regardless
4 of whether the person under 13 years of age consents to
5 the harassment;
6 (3.3) Knowingly transmitting an electronic
7 communication and impersonating another person with the
8 intent to harass that person;
9 (4) Threatening injury to the person or to the
10 property of the person to whom an electronic
11 communication is directed or to any of his or her family
12 or household members; or
13 (5) Knowingly permitting any electronic
14 communications device to be used for any of the purposes
15 mentioned in this subsection (a).
16 (b) As used in this Act:
17 (1) "Electronic communication" means any transfer
18 of signs, signals, writings, images, sounds, data or
19 intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in
20 part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric or
21 photo-optical system.
22 (2) "Family or household member" includes spouses,
23 former spouses, parents, children, stepchildren and other
24 persons related by blood or by present or prior marriage,
25 persons who share or formerly shared a common dwelling,
26 persons who have or allegedly share a blood relationship
27 through a child, persons who have or have had a dating or
28 engagement relationship, and persons with disabilities
29 and their personal assistants. For purposes of this Act,
30 neither a casual acquaintanceship nor ordinary
31 fraternization between 2 individuals in business or
32 social contexts shall be deemed to constitute a dating
33 relationship.
34 (Source: P.A. 90-578, eff. 6-1-98.)
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1 (720 ILCS 135/2) (from Ch. 134, par. 16.5)
2 Sec. 2. Sentence.
3 (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a person who
4 violates any of the provisions of Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of
5 this Act is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. Except as
6 provided in subsection (b), a second or subsequent violation
7 of Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of this Act is a Class A
8 misdemeanor, for which the court shall impose a minimum of 14
9 days in jail or, if public or community service is
10 established in the county in which the offender was
11 convicted, 240 hours of public or community service.
12 (b) In any of the following circumstances, a person who
13 violates Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of this Act shall be guilty
14 of a Class 4 felony:
15 (1) The person has 3 or more prior violations in
16 the last 10 years of harassment by telephone under
17 Section 1-1 of this Act, harassment through electronic
18 communications under Section 1-2 of this Act, or any
19 similar offense of any state;
20 (2) The person has previously violated the
21 harassment by telephone provisions of Section 1-1 of this
22 Act or the harassment through electronic communications
23 provisions of Section 1-2 of this Act or committed any
24 similar offense in any state with the same victim or a
25 member of the victim's family or household;
26 (3) At the time of the offense, the offender was
27 under conditions of bail, probation, mandatory supervised
28 release or was the subject of an order of protection, in
29 this or any other state, prohibiting contact with the
30 victim or any member of the victim's family or household;
31 (4) In the course of the offense, the offender
32 threatened to kill the victim or any member of the
33 victim's family or household; or
34 (5) The person has been convicted in the last 10
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1 years of a forcible felony as defined in Section 2-8 of
2 the Criminal Code of 1961; or .
3 (6) The person violates paragraph (4.1), (4.2), or
4 (4.3) of Section 1-1 or paragraph (3.1), (3.2), or (3.3)
5 of subsection (a) of Section 1-2.
6 (Source: P.A. 89-547, eff. 1-1-97; 90-578, eff. 6-1-98.)
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