State of Illinois
90th General Assembly
Legislation

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90_SB0009enr

      720 ILCS 5/12-7.1         from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.1
      720 ILCS 135/Act title
      720 ILCS 135/0.01         from Ch. 134, par. 16.3h
      720 ILCS 135/1-2 new
      720 ILCS 135/1-3 new
      720 ILCS 135/1-4 new
      720 ILCS 135/2            from Ch. 134, par. 16.5
      720 ILCS 135/3 new
          Amends the Obscene Phone Call Act.  Changes  short  title
      to the Harassing and Obscene Communications Act.  Creates the
      offense  of  harassment  through  electronic  communications.
      Provides  that  the  court may order a person convicted under
      the Act to submit to psychiatric examination.   Requires  the
      court  to impose a minimum of 14 days in jail or 240 hours of
      public service employment upon  an  offender  who  commits  a
      second  or third violation.  Provides that certain violations
      are  Class  4  felonies.   Provides  for  the   seizure   and
      forfeiture   of   telephonic   or  electronic  communications
      equipment used in the commission of an offense prohibited  by
      the  Act.  Amends the Criminal Code of 1961 to change a cross
      reference from the Obscene Phone Call Act  to  the  Harassing
      and Obscene Communications Act.
                                                     LRB9000805RCcd
SB9 Enrolled                                   LRB9000805RCcd
 1        AN   ACT   in   relation   to   harassing   and   obscene
 2    communications.
 3        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 4    represented in the General Assembly:
 5        Section 5.  The Criminal  Code  of  1961  is  amended  by
 6    changing Section 12-7.1 as follows:
 7        (720 ILCS 5/12-7.1) (from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.1)
 8        Sec. 12-7.1.  Hate crime.
 9        (a)  A  person  commits hate crime when, by reason of the
10    actual or perceived race, color, creed,  religion,  ancestry,
11    gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, or
12    national   origin   of   another   individual   or  group  of
13    individuals, he commits assault, battery, aggravated assault,
14    misdemeanor   theft,   criminal   trespass   to    residence,
15    misdemeanor criminal damage to property, criminal trespass to
16    vehicle,  criminal  trespass  to real property, mob action or
17    disorderly conduct as these crimes are  defined  in  Sections
18    12-1,  12-2,  12-3,  16-1,  19-4, 21-1, 21-2, 21-3, 25-1, and
19    26-1 of this Code, respectively, or harassment  by  telephone
20    as  defined  in  Section  1-1  of  the  Harassing and Obscene
21    Communications Phone Call Act against a victim  who  is:  (i)
22    the   other  individual;  (ii)  a  member  of  the  group  of
23    individuals; (iii) a person who has an association  with,  is
24    married  to, or has a friendship with the other individual or
25    a member of the group of individuals; or (iv) a relative  (by
26    blood or marriage) of a person described in clause (i), (ii),
27    or (iii).
28        (b)  Hate  crime  is a Class 4 felony for a first offense
29    and a Class 2 felony for a second or subsequent offense.  Any
30    order of probation or conditional discharge entered following
31    a conviction for an offense under this Section shall include,
SB9 Enrolled               -2-                 LRB9000805RCcd
 1    a  condition  that  the  offender perform public or community
 2    service of  no  less  than  200  hours  if  that  service  is
 3    established in the county where the offender was convicted of
 4    hate  crime.   In  addition  the  court  may impose any other
 5    condition of probation or conditional  discharge  under  this
 6    Section.
 7        (c)  Independent  of  any  criminal  prosecution  or  the
 8    result  thereof, any person suffering injury to his person or
 9    damage to his property as a result of hate crime may bring  a
10    civil  action  for  damages,  injunction or other appropriate
11    relief. The court may award actual damages, including damages
12    for emotional distress, or punitive damages. A  judgment  may
13    include  attorney's  fees  and  costs.   The parents or legal
14    guardians, other than guardians  appointed  pursuant  to  the
15    Juvenile  Court  Act or the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, of an
16    unemancipated minor shall be liable for  the  amount  of  any
17    judgment for actual damages rendered against such minor under
18    this  subsection  (c)  in any amount not exceeding the amount
19    provided under Section 5 of the Parental Responsibility Law.
20        (d)  "Sexual    orientation"    means    heterosexuality,
21    homosexuality, or bisexuality.
22    (Source: P.A. 88-45; 88-259; 88-659; 89-689, eff. 12-31-96.)
23        Section 10.  The Obscene Phone Call  Act  is  amended  by
24    changing  the  title  of  the Act and Sections 0.01 and 2 and
25    adding Sections 1-2, 1-3, and 1-4 as follows:
26        (720 ILCS 135/Act title)
27        An Act to prohibit the use  of  telephone  and  telegraph
28    lines  for  the  sending  of  certain  messages,  to  prevent
29    harassment   by  the  use  of  telephone  communications  and
30    electronic communications,  and  to  provide  a  penalty  for
31    violation of the Act.
SB9 Enrolled               -3-                 LRB9000805RCcd
 1        (720 ILCS 135/0.01) (from Ch. 134, par. 16.3h)
 2        Sec.  0.01.   Short  title.  This Act may be cited as the
 3    Harassing and Obscene Communications Phone Call Act.
 4    (Source: P.A. 86-1324.)
 5        (720 ILCS 135/1-2 new)
 6        Sec. 1-2.  Harassment through electronic communications.
 7        (a)  Harassment through electronic communications is  the
 8    use  of  electronic  communication  for  any of the following
 9    purposes:
10             (1)  Making  any  comment,  request,  suggestion  or
11        proposal which is obscene  with an intent to offend;
12             (2)  Interrupting, with the intent  to  harass,  the
13        telephone service or the electronic communication service
14        of any person;
15             (3)  Transmitting  to any person, with the intent to
16        harass and regardless of  whether  the  communication  is
17        read  in  its  entirety or at all, any file, document, or
18        other communication which prevents that person from using
19        his or her telephone service or electronic communications
20        device;
21             (4)  Threatening injury to  the  person  or  to  the
22        property   of   the   person   to   whom   an  electronic
23        communication is directed or to any of his or her  family
24        or household members; or
25             (5)  Knowingly     permitting     any     electronic
26        communications  device to be used for any of the purposes
27        mentioned in this subsection (a).
28        (b)  As used in this Act:
29             (1)  "Electronic communication" means  any  transfer
30        of  signs,  signals,  writings,  images,  sounds, data or
31        intelligence of any nature transmitted  in  whole  or  in
32        part  by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric or
33        photo-optical system.
SB9 Enrolled               -4-                 LRB9000805RCcd
 1             (2)  "Family or household member" includes  spouses,
 2        former spouses, parents, children, stepchildren and other
 3        persons related by blood or by present or prior marriage,
 4        persons  who  share or formerly shared a common dwelling,
 5        persons who have or allegedly share a blood  relationship
 6        through a child, persons who have or have had a dating or
 7        engagement  relationship,  and  persons with disabilities
 8        and their personal assistants.  For purposes of this Act,
 9        neither   a   casual   acquaintanceship   nor    ordinary
10        fraternization  between  2  individuals  in  business  or
11        social  contexts  shall  be deemed to constitute a dating
12        relationship.
13        (720 ILCS 135/1-3 new)
14        Sec. 1-3.  Evidence inference.  Evidence that a defendant
15    made additional telephone  calls  or  engaged  in  additional
16    electronic  communications  after  having been requested by a
17    named complainant or by a family or household member  of  the
18    complainant  to  stop  may  be  considered  as evidence of an
19    intent  to  harass  unless  disproved  by  evidence  to   the
20    contrary.
21        (720 ILCS 135/1-4 new)
22        Sec.  1-4.  Psychiatric examination.  The court may order
23    any  person  convicted  under  this  Act  to  submit   to   a
24    psychiatric examination.
25        (720 ILCS 135/2) (from Ch. 134, par. 16.5)
26        Sec.  2.  Sentence.  A  person  who  violates  any of the
27    provisions of Section 1, or 1-1, or 1-2 of this Act is guilty
28    of a Class B misdemeanor. A  second  or  third  violation  of
29    Section  1,  or  1-1,  or  1-2  of  this  Act  is  a  Class A
30    misdemeanor. Upon a second or third violation of  Section  1,
31    1-1  or  1-2,  the court shall impose a minimum of 14 days in
SB9 Enrolled               -5-                 LRB9000805RCcd
 1    jail or 240 hours of public service employment.   In  any  of
 2    the following circumstances, a person who violates Section 1,
 3    1-1,  or  1-2  of  this  Act  shall  be guilty of A fourth or
 4    subsequent violation of Section 1 or 1-1 of  this  Act  is  a
 5    Class 4 felony:.
 6        (a)  The  person  has 3 or more violations in the last 10
 7    years of harassment by telephone under Section  1-1  of  this
 8    Act,   harassment  through  electronic  communications  under
 9    Section 1-2 of this Act, or any similar offense of any state;
10        (b)  The person has previously violated the harassment by
11    telephone provisions of  Section  1-1  of  this  Act  or  the
12    harassment  through  electronic  communications provisions of
13    Section 1-2 of this Act or committed any similar  offense  in
14    any  state  with  the same victim or a member of the victim's
15    family or household;
16        (c)  At the time of the offense, the offender  was  under
17    conditions  of  bail, probation, mandatory supervised release
18    or was the subject of an order of protection, in this or  any
19    other  state,  prohibiting  contact  with  the  victim or any
20    member of the victim's family or household;
21        (d)  In  the  course  of  the   offense,   the   offender
22    threatened  to  kill the victim or any member of the victim's
23    family or household; or
24        (e)  The person has been convicted in the last  10  years
25    of  a  forcible  felony  as  defined  in  Section  2-8 of the
26    Criminal Code of 1961.
27    (Source: P.A. 89-547, eff. 1-1-97.)

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