Sen. Toi W. Hutchinson

Filed: 5/5/2009

 

 


 

 


 
09600HB2542sam001 LRB096 10797 RLC 26132 a

1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2542

2     AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2542 by replacing
3 everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4     "Section 5. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by
5 changing 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.
15     (a-3) A person commits stalking when he or she, knowingly
16 and without lawful justification, on at least 2 separate

 

 

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1 occasions follows another person or places the person under
2 surveillance or any combination thereof and:
3         (1) at any time transmits a threat of immediate or
4     future bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement or
5     restraint and the threat is directed towards that person or
6     a family member of that person; or
7         (2) places that person in reasonable apprehension of
8     immediate or future bodily harm, sexual assault,
9     confinement or restraint; or
10         (3) places that person in reasonable apprehension that
11     a family member will receive immediate or future bodily
12     harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint.
13     (a-5) A person commits stalking when he or she has
14 previously been convicted of stalking another person and
15 knowingly and without lawful justification on one occasion:
16         (1) follows that same person or places that same person
17     under surveillance; and
18         (2) transmits a threat of immediate or future bodily
19     harm, sexual assault, confinement or restraint; and
20         (3) the threat is directed towards that person or a
21     family member of that person.
22     (b) Sentence. Stalking is a Class 4 felony. A second or
23 subsequent conviction for stalking is a Class 3 felony.
24     (c) Definitions. For purposes of this Section:
25         (1) "Course of conduct" means 2 or more acts, including
26     but not limited to acts in which a defendant directly,

 

 

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1     indirectly, or through third parties, by any action,
2     method, device, or means follows, monitors, observes,
3     surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about, a person,
4     engages in other non-consensual contact, or interferes
5     with or damages a person's property or pet. A course of
6     conduct may include contact via electronic communications.
7         (2) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of
8     signs, signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of
9     any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire,
10     radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical
11     system. "Electronic communication" includes transmissions
12     by a computer through the Internet to another computer.
13         (3) "Emotional distress" means significant mental
14     suffering, anxiety or alarm.
15         (4) "Family member" means a parent, grandparent,
16     brother, sister, or child, whether by whole blood,
17     half-blood, or adoption and includes a step-grandparent,
18     step-parent, step-brother, step-sister or step-child.
19     "Family member" also means any other person who regularly
20     resides in the household, or who, within the prior 6
21     months, regularly resided in the household.
22         (5) "Follows another person" means (i) to move in
23     relative proximity to a person as that person moves from
24     place to place or (ii) to remain in relative proximity to a
25     person who is stationary or whose movements are confined to
26     a small area. "Follows another person" does not include a

 

 

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1     following within the residence of the defendant.
2         (6) "Non-consensual contact" means any contact with
3     the victim that is initiated or continued without the
4     victim's consent, including but not limited to being in the
5     physical presence of the victim; appearing within the sight
6     of the victim; approaching or confronting the victim in a
7     public place or on private property; appearing at the
8     workplace or residence of the victim; entering onto or
9     remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the
10     victim; or placing an object on, or delivering an object
11     to, property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim.
12         (7) "Places a person under surveillance" means: (1)
13     remaining present outside the person's school, place of
14     employment, vehicle, other place occupied by the person, or
15     residence other than the residence of the defendant; or (2)
16     placing an electronic tracking device on the person or the
17     person's property.
18         (8) "Reasonable person" means a person in the victim's
19     situation.
20         (9) "Transmits a threat" means a verbal or written
21     threat or a threat implied by a pattern of conduct or a
22     combination of verbal or written statements or conduct.
23     (d) Exemptions.
24         (1) This Section does not apply to picketing occurring
25     at the workplace that is otherwise lawful and arises out of
26     a bona fide labor dispute, including any controversy

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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1         (1) causes bodily harm to the victim;
2         (2) confines or restrains the victim; or
3         (3) violates a temporary restraining order, an order of
4     protection, a stalking no contact order, a civil no contact
5     order, or an injunction prohibiting the behavior described
6     in subsection (b)(1) of Section 214 of the Illinois
7     Domestic Violence Act of 1986.
8     (b) Sentence. Aggravated stalking is a Class 3 felony. A
9 second or subsequent conviction for aggravated stalking is a
10 Class 2 felony.
11     (c) Exemptions Exemption.
12         (1) This Section does not apply to picketing occurring
13     at the workplace that is otherwise lawful and arises out of
14     a bona fide labor dispute including any controversy
15     concerning wages, salaries, hours, working conditions or
16     benefits, including health and welfare, sick leave,
17     insurance, and pension or retirement provisions, the
18     managing or maintenance of collective bargaining
19     agreements, and the terms to be included in those
20     agreements. , or any
21         (2) This Section does not apply to an exercise of the
22     right of free speech or assembly that is otherwise lawful.
23     (d) For purposes of this Section, "bona fide labor dispute"
24 has the meaning ascribed to it in Section 12-7.3.
25 (Source: P.A. 88-402; 88-677, eff. 12-15-94; 89-377, eff.
26 8-18-95.)
 

 

 

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1     (720 ILCS 5/12-7.5)
2     Sec. 12-7.5. Cyberstalking.
3     (a) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she engages
4 in a course of conduct using electronic communication directed
5 at a specific person, and he or she knows or should know that
6 would cause a reasonable person to:
7         (1) fear for his or her safety or the safety of a third
8     person; or
9         (2) suffer other emotional distress.
10     (a-3) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she,
11 knowingly and without lawful justification, on at least 2
12 separate occasions, harasses another person through the use of
13 electronic communication and:
14         (1) at any time transmits a threat of immediate or
15     future bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or
16     restraint and the threat is directed towards that person or
17     a family member of that person, or
18         (2) places that person or a family member of that
19     person in reasonable apprehension of immediate or future
20     bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint; or
21         (3) at any time knowingly solicits the commission of an
22     act by any person which would be a violation of this Code
23     directed towards that person or a family member of that
24     person.
25     (a-5) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she,

 

 

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1 knowingly and without lawful justification, creates and
2 maintains an Internet website or webpage which is accessible to
3 one or more third parties for a period of at least 24 hours,
4 and which contains statements harassing another person and:
5         (1) which communicates a threat of immediate or future
6     bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint,
7     where the threat is directed towards that person or a
8     family member of that person, or
9         (2) which 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) which knowingly solicits the commission of an act
13     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     (b) As used in this Section:
17     "Harass" means to engage in a knowing and willful course of
18 conduct directed at a specific person that alarms, torments, or
19 terrorizes that person.
20     "Third party" means any person other than the person
21 violating these provisions and the person or persons towards
22 whom the violator's actions are directed.
23     "Electronic communication" means any transfer of signs,
24 signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature
25 transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio,
26 electronmagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical system.

 

 

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1 "Electronic communication" includes transmissions by a
2 computer through the Internet to another computer.
3     (b) (c) Sentence. Cyberstalking is a Class 4 felony. A
4 second or subsequent conviction for cyberstalking is a Class 3
5 felony.
6     (c) For purposes of this Section:
7         (1) "Course of conduct" means 2 or more acts, including
8     but not limited to acts in which a defendant directly,
9     indirectly, or through third parties, by any action,
10     method, device, or means follows, monitors, observes,
11     surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about, a person,
12     engages in other non-consensual contact, or interferes
13     with or damages a person's property or pet. The
14     incarceration in a penal institution of a person who
15     commits the course of conduct is not a bar to prosecution
16     under this Section.
17         (2) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of
18     signs, signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of
19     any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire,
20     radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical
21     system. "Electronic communication" includes transmissions
22     by a computer through the Internet to another computer.
23         (3) "Emotional distress" means significant mental
24     suffering, anxiety or alarm.
25         (4) "Harass" means to engage in a knowing and willful
26     course of conduct directed at a specific person that

 

 

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1     alarms, torments, or terrorizes that person.
2         (5) "Non-consensual contact" means any contact with
3     the victim that is initiated or continued without the
4     victim's consent, including but not limited to being in the
5     physical presence of the victim; appearing within the sight
6     of the victim; approaching or confronting the victim in a
7     public place or on private property; appearing at the
8     workplace or residence of the victim; entering onto or
9     remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the
10     victim; or placing an object on, or delivering an object
11     to, property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim.
12         (6) "Reasonable person" means a person in the victim's
13     circumstances, with the victim's knowledge of the
14     defendant and the defendant's prior acts.
15         (7) "Third party" means any person other than the
16     person violating these provisions and the person or persons
17     towards whom the violator's actions are directed.
18     (d) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile service
19 providers, and providers of information services, including,
20 but not limited to, Internet service providers and hosting
21 service providers, are not liable under this Section, except
22 for willful and wanton misconduct, by virtue of the
23 transmission, storage, or caching of electronic communications
24 or messages of others or by virtue of the provision of other
25 related telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or
26 information services used by others in violation of this

 

 

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1 Section.
2 (Source: P.A. 95-849, eff. 1-1-09; revised 9-10-08.)
 
3     Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
4 severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.".