093_HB1058

 
                                     LRB093 05517 DRJ 05608 b

 1        AN ACT in relation to civil liabilities.

 2        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section  5.  The  Alienation of Affections Act is amended
 5    by changing Section 1 as follows:

 6        (740 ILCS 5/1) (from Ch. 40, par. 1901)
 7        Sec. 1.  Public policy.  It  is  hereby  declared,  as  a
 8    matter   of   legislative   determination,  that  the  remedy
 9    heretofore provided by law for the enforcement of the  action
10    for  alienation  of  affections  has  been subjected to grave
11    abuses and has been used as an instrument  for  blackmail  by
12    unscrupulous  persons for their unjust enrichment, due to the
13    indefiniteness of the damages recoverable in such actions and
14    the consequent fear of persons threatened with  such  actions
15    that exorbitant damages might be assessed against them. It is
16    also  hereby  declared  that the award of monetary damages in
17    such actions is  ineffective  as  a  recompense  for  genuine
18    mental  or  emotional  distress.  Accordingly,  it  is hereby
19    declared as the public policy of  the  state  that  the  best
20    interests  of  the  people  of  the  state  will be served by
21    limiting the damages  recoverable  in  such  actions  and  by
22    leaving  any punishment of wrongdoers guilty of alienation of
23    affections to proceedings under  the  criminal  laws  of  the
24    state,  rather than to the imposition of punitive, exemplary,
25    vindictive, or aggravated damages in actions  for  alienation
26    of  affections.  Consequently,  in  the  public interest, the
27    necessity  for  the  enactment  of  this  chapter  is  hereby
28    declared as a matter of legislative determination.
29    (Source: Laws 1947, p. 796.)