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| [ Introduced ] | [ Engrossed ] | [ Senate Amendment 001 ] |
91_SB1273enr SB1273 Enrolled LRB9109312RCks 1 AN ACT to amend the Harassing and Obscene Communications 2 Act by changing Sections 1-1, 1-2, and 2. 3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 4 represented in the General Assembly: 5 Section 5. The Harassing and Obscene Communications Act 6 is amended by changing Sections 1-1, 1-2, and 2 as follows: 7 (720 ILCS 135/1-1) (from Ch. 134, par. 16.4-1) 8 Sec. 1-1. Harassment by telephone). Harassment by 9 telephone is use of telephone communication for any of the 10 following purposes: 11 (1) Making any comment, request, suggestion or proposal 12 which is obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy or indecent with 13 an intent to offend; or 14 (2) Making a telephone call, whether or not conversation 15 ensues, with intent to abuse, threaten or harass any person 16 at the called number; or 17 (3) Making or causing the telephone of another 18 repeatedly to ring, with intent to harass any person at the 19 called number; or 20 (4) Making repeated telephone calls, during which 21 conversation ensues, solely to harass any person at the 22 called number; or 23 (4.1) Making a telephone call or knowingly inducing a 24 person to make a telephone call for the purpose of harassing 25 another person who is under 13 years of age, regardless of 26 whether the person under 13 years of age consents to the 27 harassment, if the defendant is at least 16 years of age at 28 the time of the commission of the offense; or 29 (5) Knowingly permitting any telephone under one's 30 control to be used for any of the purposes mentioned herein. 31 Every telephone directory published for distribution to SB1273 Enrolled -2- LRB9109312RCks 1 members of the general public shall contain a notice setting 2 forth a summary of the provisions of this Section. Such 3 notice shall be printed in type which is no smaller than any 4 other type on the same page and shall be preceded by the word 5 "WARNING". All telephone companies in this State shall 6 cooperate with law enforcement agencies in using their 7 facilities and personnel to detect and prevent violations of 8 this Act. 9 (Source: P.A. 80-795.) 10 (720 ILCS 135/1-2) 11 Sec. 1-2. Harassment through electronic communications. 12 (a) Harassment through electronic communications is the 13 use of electronic communication for any of the following 14 purposes: 15 (1) Making any comment, request, suggestion or 16 proposal which is obscene with an intent to offend; 17 (2) Interrupting, with the intent to harass, the 18 telephone service or the electronic communication service 19 of any person; 20 (3) Transmitting to any person, with the intent to 21 harass and regardless of whether the communication is 22 read in its entirety or at all, any file, document, or 23 other communication which prevents that person from using 24 his or her telephone service or electronic communications 25 device; 26 (3.1) Transmitting an electronic communication or 27 knowingly inducing a person to transmit an electronic 28 communication for the purpose of harassing another person 29 who is under 13 years of age, regardless of whether the 30 person under 13 years of age consents to the harassment, 31 if the defendant is at least 16 years of age at the time 32 of the commission of the offense; 33 (4) Threatening injury to the person or to the SB1273 Enrolled -3- LRB9109312RCks 1 property of the person to whom an electronic 2 communication is directed or to any of his or her family 3 or household members; or 4 (5) Knowingly permitting any electronic 5 communications device to be used for any of the purposes 6 mentioned in this subsection (a). 7 (b) As used in this Act: 8 (1) "Electronic communication" means any transfer 9 of signs, signals, writings, images, sounds, data or 10 intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in 11 part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric or 12 photo-optical system. 13 (2) "Family or household member" includes spouses, 14 former spouses, parents, children, stepchildren and other 15 persons related by blood or by present or prior marriage, 16 persons who share or formerly shared a common dwelling, 17 persons who have or allegedly share a blood relationship 18 through a child, persons who have or have had a dating or 19 engagement relationship, and persons with disabilities 20 and their personal assistants. For purposes of this Act, 21 neither a casual acquaintanceship nor ordinary 22 fraternization between 2 individuals in business or 23 social contexts shall be deemed to constitute a dating 24 relationship. 25 (Source: P.A. 90-578, eff. 6-1-98.) 26 (720 ILCS 135/2) (from Ch. 134, par. 16.5) 27 Sec. 2. Sentence. 28 (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a person who 29 violates any of the provisions of Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of 30 this Act is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. Except as 31 provided in subsection (b), a second or subsequent violation 32 of Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of this Act is a Class A 33 misdemeanor, for which the court shall impose a minimum of 14 SB1273 Enrolled -4- LRB9109312RCks 1 days in jail or, if public or community service is 2 established in the county in which the offender was 3 convicted, 240 hours of public or community service. 4 (b) In any of the following circumstances, a person who 5 violates Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of this Act shall be guilty 6 of a Class 4 felony: 7 (1) The person has 3 or more prior violations in 8 the last 10 years of harassment by telephone under 9 Section 1-1 of this Act, harassment through electronic 10 communications under Section 1-2 of this Act, or any 11 similar offense of any state; 12 (2) The person has previously violated the 13 harassment by telephone provisions of Section 1-1 of this 14 Act or the harassment through electronic communications 15 provisions of Section 1-2 of this Act or committed any 16 similar offense in any state with the same victim or a 17 member of the victim's family or household; 18 (3) At the time of the offense, the offender was 19 under conditions of bail, probation, mandatory supervised 20 release or was the subject of an order of protection, in 21 this or any other state, prohibiting contact with the 22 victim or any member of the victim's family or household; 23 (4) In the course of the offense, the offender 24 threatened to kill the victim or any member of the 25 victim's family or household;or26 (5) The person has been convicted in the last 10 27 years of a forcible felony as defined in Section 2-8 of 28 the Criminal Code of 1961; or.29 (6) The person violates paragraph (4.1) of Section 30 1-1 or paragraph (3.1) of subsection (a) of Section 1-2. 31 (Source: P.A. 89-547, eff. 1-1-97; 90-578, eff. 6-1-98.)