Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SB2855
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Full Text of SB2855  95th General Assembly

SB2855eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
SB2855 Engrossed LRB095 19679 RLC 46030 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 Harassing and Obscene Communications Act is
5 amended by changing Sections 1-2 and 2 as follows:
 
6     (720 ILCS 135/1-2)
7     Sec. 1-2. Harassment through electronic communications.
8     (a) Harassment through electronic communications is the
9 use of electronic communication for any of the following
10 purposes:
11         (1) Making any comment, request, suggestion or
12     proposal which is obscene with an intent to offend;
13         (2) Interrupting, with the intent to harass, the
14     telephone service or the electronic communication service
15     of any person;
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
20     her telephone service or electronic communications device;
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

 

 

SB2855 Engrossed - 2 - LRB095 19679 RLC 46030 b

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;
5         (3.5) Electronically communicating directly with
6     another person with the intent to commit a violation of
7     Article 11 or Article 12 of the Criminal Code of 1961 with
8     that person, and when the person initiating the
9     communication is 18 years of age or older and the party
10     communicated with is, or is believed to be, under 18 years
11     of age;
12         (4) Threatening injury to the person or to the property
13     of the person to whom an electronic communication is
14     directed or to any of his or her family or household
15     members; or
16         (5) Knowingly permitting any electronic communications
17     device to be used for any of the purposes mentioned in this
18     subsection (a).
19     (a-5) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile
20 service providers, and providers of information services,
21 including, but not limited to, Internet service providers and
22 hosting service providers, are not liable under this Section,
23 except for willful and wanton misconduct, by virtue of the
24 transmission, storage, or caching of electronic communications
25 or messages of others or by virtue of the provision of other
26 related telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or

 

 

SB2855 Engrossed - 3 - LRB095 19679 RLC 46030 b

1 information services used by others in violation of this
2 Section.
3     (b) As used in this Act:
4         (1) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of
5     signs, signals, writings, images, sounds, data or
6     intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part
7     by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric or
8     photo-optical system.
9         (2) "Family or household member" includes spouses,
10     former spouses, parents, children, stepchildren and other
11     persons related by blood or by present or prior marriage,
12     persons who share or formerly shared a common dwelling,
13     persons who have or allegedly share a blood relationship
14     through a child, persons who have or have had a dating or
15     engagement relationship, and persons with disabilities and
16     their personal assistants. For purposes of this Act,
17     neither a casual acquaintanceship nor ordinary
18     fraternization between 2 individuals in business or social
19     contexts shall be deemed to constitute a dating
20     relationship.
21 (Source: P.A. 90-578, eff. 6-1-98; 91-878, eff. 1-1-01.)
 
22     (720 ILCS 135/2)  (from Ch. 134, par. 16.5)
23     Sec. 2. Sentence.
24     (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a person who
25 violates any of the provisions of Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of

 

 

SB2855 Engrossed - 4 - LRB095 19679 RLC 46030 b

1 this Act is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. Except as provided
2 in subsection (b), a second or subsequent violation of Section
3 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of this Act is a Class A misdemeanor, for which
4 the court shall impose a minimum of 14 days in jail or, if
5 public or community service is established in the county in
6 which the offender was convicted, 240 hours of public or
7 community service.
8     (b) In any of the following circumstances, a person who
9 violates Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of this Act shall be guilty of
10 a Class 4 felony:
11         (1) The person has 3 or more prior violations in the
12     last 10 years of harassment by telephone under Section 1-1
13     of this Act, harassment through electronic communications
14     under Section 1-2 of this Act, or any similar offense of
15     any state;
16         (2) The person has previously violated the harassment
17     by telephone provisions of Section 1-1 of this Act or the
18     harassment through electronic communications provisions of
19     Section 1-2 of this Act or committed any similar offense in
20     any state with the same victim or a member of the victim's
21     family or household;
22         (3) At the time of the offense, the offender was under
23     conditions of bail, probation, mandatory supervised
24     release or was the subject of an order of protection, in
25     this or any other state, prohibiting contact with the
26     victim or any member of the victim's family or household;

 

 

SB2855 Engrossed - 5 - LRB095 19679 RLC 46030 b

1         (4) In the course of the offense, the offender
2     threatened to kill the victim or any member of the victim's
3     family or household;
4         (5) The person has been convicted in the last 10 years
5     of a forcible felony as defined in Section 2-8 of the
6     Criminal Code of 1961; or
7         (6) The person violates paragraph (4.1) of Section 1-1
8     or paragraph (3.1) or (3.5) of subsection (a) of Section
9     1-2.
10 (Source: P.A. 90-578, eff. 6-1-98; 91-878, eff. 1-1-01.)