HB2542 Engrossed LRB096 10797 RLC 21009 b

1     AN ACT concerning criminal law.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by changing
5 Sections 12-7.3, 12-7.4, and 12-7.5 as follows:
 
6     (720 ILCS 5/12-7.3)  (from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.3)
7     Sec. 12-7.3. Stalking.
8     (a) A person commits stalking when he or she, knowingly
9 engages in a course of conduct directed at a specific person,
10 and he or she knows or should know that this course of conduct
11 would cause a reasonable person to:
12         (1) fear for his or her safety or the safety of a third
13     person; or
14         (2) suffer other emotional distress. and without
15     lawful justification, on at least 2 separate occasions
16     follows another person or places the person under
17     surveillance or any combination thereof and:
18         (1) at any time transmits a threat of immediate or
19     future bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement or
20     restraint and the threat is directed towards that person or
21     a family member of that person; or
22         (2) places that person in reasonable apprehension of
23     immediate or future bodily harm, sexual assault,

 

 

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1     confinement or restraint; or
2         (3) places that person in reasonable apprehension that
3     a family member will receive immediate or future bodily
4     harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint.
5     (a-5) A person commits stalking when he or she has
6 previously been convicted of stalking another person and
7 knowingly and without lawful justification on one occasion:
8         (1) follows that same person or places that same person
9     under surveillance; and
10         (2) transmits a threat of immediate or future bodily
11     harm, sexual assault, confinement or restraint; and
12         (3) the threat is directed towards that person or a
13     family member of that person.
14     (b) Sentence. Stalking is a Class 4 felony. A second or
15 subsequent conviction for stalking is a Class 3 felony.
16     (c) Definitions. For purposes of this Section:
17         (1) "Course of conduct" means 2 or more acts, including
18     but not limited to acts in which a defendant directly,
19     indirectly, or through third parties, by any action,
20     method, device, or means follows, monitors, observes,
21     surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about, a person,
22     engages in other non-consensual contact, or interferes
23     with or damages a person's property or pet. A course of
24     conduct may include contact via electronic communications.
25     The incarceration in a penal institution of a person who
26     commits the course of conduct is not a bar to prosecution

 

 

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1     under this Section.
2         (2) "Emotional distress" means significant mental
3     suffering, anxiety or alarm.
4         (3) "Reasonable person" means a person in the victim's
5     situation.
6         (4) "Non-consensual contact" means any contact with
7     the victim that is initiated or continued without the
8     victim's consent, including but not limited to being in the
9     physical presence of the victim; appearing within the sight
10     of the victim; approaching or confronting the victim in a
11     public place or on private property; appearing at the
12     workplace or residence of the victim; entering onto or
13     remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the
14     victim; or placing an object on, or delivering an object
15     to, property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim.
16         (5) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of
17     signs, signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of
18     any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire,
19     radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical
20     system. "Electronic communication" includes transmissions
21     by a computer through the Internet to another computer.
22     (d) Exemptions.
23         (1) This Section does not apply to picketing occurring
24     at the workplace that is otherwise lawful and arises out of
25     a bona fide labor dispute, including any controversy
26     concerning wages, salaries, hours, working conditions or

 

 

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1     benefits, including health and welfare, sick leave,
2     insurance, and pension or retirement provisions, the
3     making or maintaining of collective bargaining agreements,
4     and the terms to be included in those agreements.
5         (2) This Section does not apply to an exercise of the
6     right to free speech or assembly that is otherwise lawful.
7     (b-5) The incarceration of a person in a penal institution
8 who transmits a threat is not a bar to prosecution under this
9 Section.
10     (c) Exemption. This Section does not apply to picketing
11 occurring at the workplace that is otherwise lawful and arises
12 out of a bona fide labor dispute, or any exercise of the right
13 of free speech or assembly that is otherwise lawful.
14     (d) For the purpose of this Section, a defendant "places a
15 person under surveillance" by: (1) remaining present outside
16 the person's school, place of employment, vehicle, other place
17 occupied by the person, or residence other than the residence
18 of the defendant; or (2) placing an electronic tracking device
19 on the person or the person's property.
20     (e) For the purpose of this Section, "follows another
21 person" means (i) to move in relative proximity to a person as
22 that person moves from place to place or (ii) to remain in
23 relative proximity to a person who is stationary or whose
24 movements are confined to a small area. "Follows another
25 person" does not include a following within the residence of
26 the defendant.

 

 

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1     (f) For the purposes of this Section and Section 12-7.4,
2 "bona fide labor dispute" means any controversy concerning
3 wages, salaries, hours, working conditions, or benefits,
4 including health and welfare, sick leave, insurance, and
5 pension or retirement provisions, the making or maintaining of
6 collective bargaining agreements, and the terms to be included
7 in those agreements.
8     (g) For the purposes of this Section, "transmits a threat"
9 means a verbal or written threat or a threat implied by a
10 pattern of conduct or a combination of verbal or written
11 statements or conduct.
12     (h) For the purposes of this Section, "family member" means
13 a parent, grandparent, brother, sister, or child, whether by
14 whole blood, half-blood, or adoption and includes a
15 step-grandparent, step-parent, step-brother, step-sister or
16 step-child. "Family member" also means any other person who
17 regularly resides in the household, or who, within the prior 6
18 months, regularly resided in the household.
19 (Source: P.A. 95-33, eff. 1-1-08.)
 
20     (720 ILCS 5/12-7.4)  (from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.4)
21     Sec. 12-7.4. Aggravated stalking.
22     (a) A person commits aggravated stalking when he or she, in
23 conjunction with committing the offense of stalking, also does
24 any of the following:
25         (1) causes bodily harm to the victim;

 

 

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1         (2) confines or restrains the victim; or
2         (3) violates a temporary restraining order, an order of
3     protection, a stalking no contact order, a civil no contact
4     order, or an injunction prohibiting the behavior described
5     in subsection (b)(1) of Section 214 of the Illinois
6     Domestic Violence Act of 1986.
7     (b) Sentence. Aggravated stalking is a Class 3 felony. A
8 second or subsequent conviction for aggravated stalking is a
9 Class 2 felony.
10     (c) Exemption. This Section does not apply to picketing
11 occurring at the workplace that is otherwise lawful and arises
12 out of a bona fide labor dispute, or any exercise of the right
13 of free speech or assembly that is otherwise lawful.
14     (d) For purposes of this Section, "bona fide labor dispute"
15 has the meaning ascribed to it in Section 12-7.3.
16 (Source: P.A. 88-402; 88-677, eff. 12-15-94; 89-377, eff.
17 8-18-95.)
 
18     (720 ILCS 5/12-7.5)
19     Sec. 12-7.5. Cyberstalking.
20     (a) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she engages
21 in a course of conduct using electronic communication directed
22 at a specific person, and he or she knows or should know that
23 would cause a reasonable person to:
24         (1) fear for his or her safety or the safety of a third
25     person; or

 

 

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1         (2) suffer other emotional distress.
2 , knowingly and without lawful justification, on at least 2
3 separate occasions, harasses another person through the use of
4 electronic communication and:
5         (1) at any time transmits a threat of immediate or
6     future bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or
7     restraint and the threat is directed towards that person or
8     a family member of that person, or
9         (2) places that person or a family member of that
10     person in reasonable apprehension of immediate or future
11     bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint; or
12         (3) at any time knowingly solicits the commission of an
13     act by any person which would be a violation of this Code
14     directed towards that person or a family member of that
15     person.
16     (a-5) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she,
17 knowingly and without lawful justification, creates and
18 maintains an Internet website or webpage which is accessible to
19 one or more third parties for a period of at least 24 hours,
20 and which contains statements harassing another person and:
21         (1) which communicates a threat of immediate or future
22     bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint,
23     where the threat is directed towards that person or a
24     family member of that person, or
25         (2) which places that person or a family member of that
26     person in reasonable apprehension of immediate or future

 

 

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1     bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint, or
2         (3) which knowingly solicits the commission of an act
3     by any person which would be a violation of this Code
4     directed towards that person or a family member of that
5     person.
6     (b) As used in this Section:
7     "Harass" means to engage in a knowing and willful course of
8 conduct directed at a specific person that alarms, torments, or
9 terrorizes that person.
10     "Third party" means any person other than the person
11 violating these provisions and the person or persons towards
12 whom the violator's actions are directed.
13     "Electronic communication" means any transfer of signs,
14 signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature
15 transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio,
16 electronmagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical system.
17 "Electronic communication" includes transmissions by a
18 computer through the Internet to another computer.
19     (b) (c) Sentence. Cyberstalking is a Class 4 felony. A
20 second or subsequent conviction for cyberstalking is a Class 3
21 felony.
22     (c) For purposes of this Section:
23         (1) "Course of conduct" means 2 or more acts, including
24     but not limited to acts in which a defendant directly,
25     indirectly, or through third parties, by any action,
26     method, device, or means follows, monitors, observes,

 

 

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1     surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about, a person,
2     engages in other non-consensual contact, or interferes
3     with or damages a person's property or pet. The
4     incarceration in a penal institution of a person who
5     commits the course of conduct is not a bar to prosecution
6     under this Section.
7         (2) "Emotional distress" means significant mental
8     suffering, anxiety or alarm.
9         (3) "Reasonable person" means a person in the victim's
10     circumstances, with the victim's knowledge of the
11     defendant and the defendant's prior acts.
12         (4) "Non-consensual contact" means any contact with
13     the victim that is initiated or continued without the
14     victim's consent, including but not limited to being in the
15     physical presence of the victim; appearing within the sight
16     of the victim; approaching or confronting the victim in a
17     public place or on private property; appearing at the
18     workplace or residence of the victim; entering onto or
19     remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the
20     victim; or placing an object on, or delivering an object
21     to, property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim.
22         (5) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of
23     signs, signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of
24     any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire,
25     radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical
26     system. "Electronic communication" includes transmissions

 

 

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1     by a computer through the Internet to another computer.
2     (d) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile service
3 providers, and providers of information services, including,
4 but not limited to, Internet service providers and hosting
5 service providers, are not liable under this Section, except
6 for willful and wanton misconduct, by virtue of the
7 transmission, storage, or caching of electronic communications
8 or messages of others or by virtue of the provision of other
9 related telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or
10 information services used by others in violation of this
11 Section.
12 (Source: P.A. 95-849, eff. 1-1-09; revised 9-10-08.)