HB5078eng 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB5078 Engrossed LRB104 18205 JRC 31644 b

AN ACT concerning civil law.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. References to Act. This Act may be referred to as the Protect Survivors Reporting Act.

Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by adding Article XXIV as follows:

(735 ILCS 5/Art. XXIV heading new)

ARTICLE XXIV. GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

(735 ILCS 5/24-105 new)

Sec. 24-105. Declaration of public policy. Gender-based violence is a pervasive societal problem, and only a small percentage of incidents are reported, and of those reported an even smaller percentage lead to an arrest or conviction. Survivors of gender-based violence are often silenced by fear of retaliation, including the threat of being sued for defamation, slander, libel, harassment, or other claims related to speaking out. The fear of such lawsuits deters survivors from reporting and allows perpetrators to avoid the consequences of their actions. The use of the legal system to silence survivors has a corrosive effect on survivors and does not serve the public good. The General Assembly recognizes that reporting gender-based violence is a right protected by the Illinois Constitution and the United States Constitution.

(735 ILCS 5/24-110 new)

Sec. 24-110. Definitions. In this Article:

"Claim" means any lawsuit, action, claim, crossclaim, counterclaim, or other judicial pleading or filing alleging injury.

"Gender-based violence" means one or more acts of violence, aggression, or abuse satisfying the elements of any criminal or civil offense under the laws of this State that are committed, at least in part, on the basis of a person's actual or perceived sex or gender, regardless of whether the acts were reported to law enforcement or resulted in legal action, including, but not limited to, any act of domestic abuse as defined in the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986, dating violence, human trafficking, sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, or stalking.

"Motion" includes any motion to dismiss, for summary judgment, or to strike, or any other judicial pleading filed to dispose of a judicial claim.

"Moving party" means any person on whose behalf a motion described in Section 24-115 is filed seeking dismissal of a claim.

"Person" includes any individual, corporation, association, organization, partnership, 2 or more persons having a joint or common interest, or other legal entity.

"Reporting gender-based violence" includes making a disclosure of gender-based violence to authorities, an employer, an educational institution, a public entity, or nonprofit agency, to the press or media or at a public forum, in print, electronically, or via social media, or to another person verbally, in writing, or via electronic means.

"Responding party" means any person against whom a motion described in Section 24-115 is filed.

(735 ILCS 5/24-115 new)

Sec. 24-115. Applicability. This Article applies to any motion to dispose of a claim that is based on, relates to, or is in response to the moving party's reporting gender-based violence. This includes, but is not limited to, claims alleging defamation, slander, libel, harassment, and actions arising out of the alleged perpetrator of gender-based violence being publicly named. If a court finds that the civil action is based on the moving party reporting gender-based violence, it shall grant a motion to dismiss the claim unless it finds that the responding party has established by a preponderance of the evidence that the moving party's reporting gender-based violence was done with knowledge that the report was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.

(735 ILCS 5/24-120 new)

Sec. 24-120. Motion procedure and standards.

(a) On the filing of any motion as described in Section 24-115, a hearing and decision on the motion must occur within 90 days after notice of the motion is given to the responding party. An appellate court shall expedite any appeal or other writ, whether interlocutory or not, from a trial court order denying that motion or from a trial court's failure to rule on that motion within 90 days after that trial court's order or failure to rule.

(b) Discovery shall be suspended pending a decision on the motion. However, discovery may be taken, upon leave of court for good cause shown, on the issue of whether the moving party's report was made with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.

(735 ILCS 5/24-125 new)

Sec. 24-125. Attorney's fees, costs, and injunctive relief on the motion. The court shall award a moving party who prevails in a motion under this Article reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred in connection with the motion, and appropriate injunctive relief, if requested by the moving party. The court may also award a moving party treble damages for any harm caused to the moving party by the action against them and punitive damages. This relief is only available to the moving party.

(735 ILCS 5/24-130 new)

Sec. 24-130. Damages in the case. In any case in which the moving party filed a motion under this Article, but the claim is not dismissed under Section 24-115, at the conclusion of the case, a prevailing defendant is entitled to reasonable attorney's fees and costs for successfully defending the litigation, plus treble damages for any harm caused by the action, punitive damages, appropriate injunctive relief if requested by the defendant, or any other relief otherwise permitted by law.

(735 ILCS 5/24-135 new)

Sec. 24-135. Construction of Article.

(a) Nothing in this Article limits or precludes any rights the moving party may have under any other constitutional, statutory, case or common law, or rule provisions.

(b) This Article shall be construed liberally to effectuate its purposes and intent fully.

(c) The motion created under this Article shall be available in all actions pending or commenced on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 104th General Assembly.

Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.