97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
SB0051

 

Introduced 1/27/2011, by Sen. Ira I. Silverstein

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
720 ILCS 135/1-2
720 ILCS 135/2  from Ch. 134, par. 16.5

    Amends the Harassing and Obscene Communications Act. Provides that a person also commits harassment through electronic communications by knowingly and without consent credibly impersonating another actual person through or on an Internet Web site or by other electronic means for purposes of harming, intimidating, threatening, or defrauding another person. Provides that a violation is a Class A misdemeanor for a first offense and a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense.


LRB097 05435 RLC 45493 b

CORRECTIONAL BUDGET AND IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB0051LRB097 05435 RLC 45493 b

1    AN ACT concerning criminal law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Harassing and Obscene Communications Act is
5amended 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
9use of electronic communication for any of the following
10purposes:
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

 

 

SB0051- 2 -LRB097 05435 RLC 45493 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        (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
9        (5) Knowingly permitting any electronic communications
10    device to be used for any of the purposes mentioned in this
11    subsection (a); or .
12        (6) Knowingly and without consent credibly
13    impersonating another actual person through or on an
14    Internet Web site or by other electronic means for purposes
15    of harming, intimidating, threatening, or defrauding
16    another person.
17    (b) As used in this Act:
18        (0.05) "Credibly impersonating" means another person
19    would reasonably believe, or did reasonably believe, that
20    the defendant was or is the person who was impersonated.
21        (1) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of
22    signs, signals, writings, images, sounds, data or
23    intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part
24    by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric or
25    photo-optical system. "Electronic communication" includes
26    transmissions by a computer through the Internet to another

 

 

SB0051- 3 -LRB097 05435 RLC 45493 b

1    computer. "Electronic communication" includes opening an
2    e-mail account or an account or profile on a social
3    networking Internet Web site in another person's name.
4        (2) "Family or household member" includes spouses,
5    former spouses, parents, children, stepchildren and other
6    persons related by blood or by present or prior marriage,
7    persons who share or formerly shared a common dwelling,
8    persons who have or allegedly share a blood relationship
9    through a child, persons who have or have had a dating or
10    engagement relationship, and persons with disabilities and
11    their personal assistants. For purposes of this Act,
12    neither a casual acquaintanceship nor ordinary
13    fraternization between 2 individuals in business or social
14    contexts shall be deemed to constitute a dating
15    relationship.
16    (c) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile service
17providers, and providers of information services, including,
18but not limited to, Internet service providers and hosting
19service providers, are not liable under this Section, except
20for willful and wanton misconduct, by virtue of the
21transmission, storage, or caching of electronic communications
22or messages of others or by virtue of the provision of other
23related telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or
24information services used by others in violation of this
25Section.
26(Source: P.A. 95-849, eff. 1-1-09; 95-984, eff. 6-1-09; 96-328,

 

 

SB0051- 4 -LRB097 05435 RLC 45493 b

1eff. 8-11-09.)
 
2    (720 ILCS 135/2)  (from Ch. 134, par. 16.5)
3    Sec. 2. Sentence.
4    (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a person who
5violates any of the provisions of Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2, other
6than paragraph (6) of subsection (a) of Section 1-2, of this
7Act is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. Except as provided in
8subsection (b), a person who violates paragraph (6) of
9subsection (a) of Section 1-2 of this Act is guilty of a Class
10A misdemeanor. Except as provided in subsection (b), a second
11or subsequent violation of Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of this Act
12is a Class A misdemeanor, for which the court shall impose a
13minimum of 14 days in jail or, if public or community service
14is established in the county in which the offender was
15convicted, 240 hours of public or community service.
16    (b) In any of the following circumstances, a person who
17violates Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of this Act shall be guilty of
18a Class 4 felony:
19        (1) The person has 3 or more prior violations in the
20    last 10 years of harassment by telephone under Section 1-1
21    of this Act, harassment through electronic communications
22    under Section 1-2 of this Act, or any similar offense of
23    any state;
24        (2) The person has previously violated the harassment
25    by telephone provisions of Section 1-1 of this Act or the

 

 

SB0051- 5 -LRB097 05435 RLC 45493 b

1    harassment through electronic communications provisions of
2    Section 1-2 of this Act or committed any similar offense in
3    any state with the same victim or a member of the victim's
4    family or household;
5        (3) At the time of the offense, the offender was under
6    conditions of bail, probation, mandatory supervised
7    release or was the subject of an order of protection, in
8    this or any other state, prohibiting contact with the
9    victim or any member of the victim's family or household;
10        (4) In the course of the offense, the offender
11    threatened to kill the victim or any member of the victim's
12    family or household;
13        (5) The person has been convicted in the last 10 years
14    of a forcible felony as defined in Section 2-8 of the
15    Criminal Code of 1961;
16        (6) The person violates paragraph (4.1) of Section 1-1
17    or paragraph (3.1) of subsection (a) of Section 1-2; or
18        (7) The person was at least 18 years of age at the time
19    of the commission of the offense and the victim was under
20    18 years of age at the time of the commission of the
21    offense; or
22        (8) The person has previously violated paragraph (6) of
23    subsection (a) of Section 1-2.
24(Source: P.A. 95-984, eff. 6-1-09.)