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1 | AN ACT concerning criminal law.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Harassing and Obscene Communications Act is | ||||||
5 | amended by changing Sections 1-2 and 2 as follows:
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6 | (720 ILCS 135/1-2)
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7 | Sec. 1-2. Harassment through electronic communications.
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8 | (a) Harassment through electronic communications is the | ||||||
9 | use of electronic
communication for any of the following | ||||||
10 | purposes:
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11 | (1) Making any comment, request, suggestion or | ||||||
12 | proposal which is obscene
with an intent to offend;
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13 | (2) Interrupting, with the intent to harass, the | ||||||
14 | telephone service or the
electronic communication service | ||||||
15 | of any person;
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16 | (3) Transmitting to any person, with the intent to | ||||||
17 | harass and regardless
of whether the communication is read | ||||||
18 | in its entirety or at all, any file,
document, or other | ||||||
19 | communication which prevents that person from using his or
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20 | her telephone service or electronic communications device;
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21 | (3.1) Transmitting an electronic communication or | ||||||
22 | knowingly inducing a
person to transmit an electronic | ||||||
23 | communication for the purpose of harassing
another person |
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1 | who is under 13 years of age, regardless of whether the | ||||||
2 | person
under 13 years of age consents to the harassment, if | ||||||
3 | the defendant is at least
16 years of age at the time of | ||||||
4 | the commission of the offense;
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5 | (4) Threatening injury to the person or to the property | ||||||
6 | of the person to
whom an electronic communication is | ||||||
7 | directed or to any of his or her family or
household | ||||||
8 | members; or
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9 | (5) Knowingly permitting any electronic communications | ||||||
10 | device to be used
for any of the purposes mentioned in this | ||||||
11 | subsection (a).
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12 | (a-5) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile | ||||||
13 | service providers, and providers of information services, | ||||||
14 | including, but not limited to, Internet service providers and | ||||||
15 | hosting service providers, are not liable under this Section, | ||||||
16 | except for willful and wanton misconduct, by virtue of the | ||||||
17 | transmission, storage, or caching of electronic communications | ||||||
18 | or messages of others or by virtue of the provision of other | ||||||
19 | related telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or | ||||||
20 | information services used by others in violation of this | ||||||
21 | Section. | ||||||
22 | (b) As used in this Act:
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23 | (1) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of | ||||||
24 | signs, signals,
writings, images, sounds, data or | ||||||
25 | intelligence of any nature transmitted in
whole or in part | ||||||
26 | by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric or
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1 | photo-optical system.
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2 | (2) "Family or household member" includes spouses, | ||||||
3 | former spouses,
parents,
children, stepchildren and other | ||||||
4 | persons related by blood or by present or
prior
marriage, | ||||||
5 | persons who share or formerly shared a common dwelling, | ||||||
6 | persons who
have or allegedly share a blood relationship | ||||||
7 | through a child, persons who have
or have had a dating or | ||||||
8 | engagement relationship, and persons with disabilities
and | ||||||
9 | their personal assistants. For purposes of this Act, | ||||||
10 | neither a casual
acquaintanceship nor ordinary | ||||||
11 | fraternization between 2 individuals in
business or social | ||||||
12 | contexts shall be deemed to constitute a dating
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13 | relationship.
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14 | (Source: P.A. 90-578, eff. 6-1-98; 91-878, eff. 1-1-01.)
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15 | (720 ILCS 135/2) (from Ch. 134, par. 16.5)
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16 | Sec. 2. Sentence.
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17 | (a) Except as provided in
subsection (b), a
person who | ||||||
18 | violates any of the provisions of
Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of | ||||||
19 | this Act
is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
Except as provided
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20 | in subsection (b), a second or subsequent
violation of Section | ||||||
21 | 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of this
Act is a Class A
misdemeanor, for which | ||||||
22 | the
court
shall impose a minimum of 14 days in
jail or, if | ||||||
23 | public or
community service is established in the county in | ||||||
24 | which the offender was
convicted, 240 hours of public or | ||||||
25 | community service.
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1 | (b) In any of the following circumstances, a person who | ||||||
2 | violates Section 1,
1-1, or
1-2 of this Act shall be guilty of | ||||||
3 | a Class 4 felony:
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4 | (1) The person has 3 or more prior violations in the | ||||||
5 | last 10 years of
harassment
by
telephone under Section 1-1 | ||||||
6 | of this Act, harassment through electronic
communications | ||||||
7 | under Section 1-2 of this Act, or any similar offense of | ||||||
8 | any
state;
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9 | (2) The person has previously violated the harassment | ||||||
10 | by telephone
provisions of Section 1-1 of this Act or the | ||||||
11 | harassment through electronic
communications provisions of | ||||||
12 | Section 1-2 of this Act or committed any similar
offense in | ||||||
13 | any state with the same victim or a member of the victim's | ||||||
14 | family or
household;
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15 | (3) At the time of the offense, the offender was under | ||||||
16 | conditions of bail,
probation, mandatory supervised | ||||||
17 | release or was the subject of an order of
protection, in | ||||||
18 | this or any other state, prohibiting contact with the | ||||||
19 | victim or
any member of the victim's family or household;
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20 | (4) In the course of the offense, the offender | ||||||
21 | threatened to kill the
victim or any member of the victim's | ||||||
22 | family or household;
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23 | (5) The person has been convicted in the last 10 years | ||||||
24 | of a forcible
felony
as defined in Section 2-8 of the | ||||||
25 | Criminal Code of 1961; or
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26 | (6) The person violates paragraph (4.1) of Section 1-1 |
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1 | or paragraph
(3.1) of subsection (a) of Section 1-2 ; or | ||||||
2 | (7) The person was at least 18 years of age at the time | ||||||
3 | of the commission of the offense and the victim was under | ||||||
4 | 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the | ||||||
5 | offense.
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6 | (Source: P.A. 90-578, eff. 6-1-98; 91-878, eff. 1-1-01.)
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