Bill Text: IL HB5320 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Harassing and Obscene Communications Act. Includes additional factors that constitute violations of the Act by harassment through electronic communications. Establishes penalties for these additional offenses.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-05 - Referred to Rules Committee [HB5320 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2009-HB5320-Introduced.html

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96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2009 and 2010 HB5320 Introduced 2/5/2010, by Rep. Darlene J. Senger 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. Includes additional factors that constitute violations of the Act by harassment through electronic communications. Establishes penalties for these additional offenses.
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CORRECTIONAL BUDGET AND IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning criminal law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Harassing and Obscene Communications Act is
amended by changing Sections 1-2 and 2 as follows:
(720 ILCS 135/1-2)
Sec. 1-2. Harassment through electronic communications.
(a) Harassment through electronic communications is the
use of electronic communication for any of the following
purposes:
(1) Making any comment, request, suggestion or
proposal which is obscene with an intent to offend;
(2) Interrupting, with the intent to harass, the
telephone service or the electronic communication service
of any person;
(3) Transmitting to any person, with the intent to
harass and regardless of whether the communication is read
in its entirety or at all, any file, document, or other
communication which prevents that person from using his or
her telephone service or electronic communications device;
(3.1) Transmitting an electronic communication or
knowingly inducing a person to transmit an electronic
communication for the purpose of harassing another person

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who is under 13 years of age, regardless of whether the
person under 13 years of age consents to the harassment, if
the defendant is at least 16 years of age at the time of
the commission of the offense;
(4) Threatening injury to the person or to the property
of the person to whom an electronic communication is
directed or to any of his or her family or household
members; or
(4.1) Knowingly frightening, intimidating, or causing
emotional distress to another person by anonymously making
a telephone call or any electronic communication; or making
false postings on an Internet website for longer than 24
hours regardless of that information being sent to the
victim;
(4.2) Knowingly communicating with another person by
any electronic means who is, or who purports to be under 18
years of age and in so doing and without good cause
recklessly frightening, intimidating, or causing emotional
distress to such other person;
(4.3) Knowingly making repeated unwanted communication
to another person;
(4.4) Without good cause engaging in any other act with
the purpose of frightening, intimidating, or causing
emotional distress to another person, causing such person
to be frightened, intimidated, or emotionally distressed,
and such person's response to the act is one of a person of

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average sensibilities considering the age of such person;
or
(5) Knowingly permitting any electronic communications
device to be used for any of the purposes mentioned in this
subsection (a).
(b) As used in this Act:
(1) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of
signs, signals, writings, images, sounds, data or
intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part
by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric or
photo-optical system. "Electronic communication" includes
transmissions by a computer through the Internet to another
computer.
(2) "Family or household member" includes spouses,
former spouses, parents, children, stepchildren and other
persons related by blood or by present or prior marriage,
persons who share or formerly shared a common dwelling,
persons who have or allegedly share a blood relationship
through a child, persons who have or have had a dating or
engagement relationship, and persons with disabilities and
their personal assistants. For purposes of this Act,
neither a casual acquaintanceship nor ordinary
fraternization between 2 individuals in business or social
contexts shall be deemed to constitute a dating
relationship.
(c) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile service

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providers, and providers of information services, including,
but not limited to, Internet service providers and hosting
service providers, are not liable under this Section, except
for willful and wanton misconduct, by virtue of the
transmission, storage, or caching of electronic communications
or messages of others or by virtue of the provision of other
related telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or
information services used by others in violation of this
Section.
(d) Paragraphs (4.1), (4.2), (4.3), and (4.4) of subsection
(a) of this Section do not apply to activities of federal,
state, county, or municipal law enforcement officers
conducting investigations of a violation of federal, State,
county, or municipal law.
(Source: P.A. 95-849, eff. 1-1-09; 95-984, eff. 6-1-09; 96-328,
eff. 8-11-09.)
(720 ILCS 135/2) (from Ch. 134, par. 16.5)
Sec. 2. Sentence.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a person who
violates any of the provisions of Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of
this Act is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. Except as provided
in subsection (b), a second or subsequent violation of Section
1, 1-1, or 1-2 of this Act is a Class A misdemeanor, for which
the court shall impose a minimum of 14 days in jail or, if
public or community service is established in the county in

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which the offender was convicted, 240 hours of public or
community service.
(b) In any of the following circumstances, a person who
violates Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of this Act shall be guilty of
a Class 4 felony:
(1) The person has 3 or more prior violations in the
last 10 years of harassment by telephone under Section 1-1
of this Act, harassment through electronic communications
under Section 1-2 of this Act, or any similar offense of
any state;
(2) The person has previously violated the harassment
by telephone provisions of Section 1-1 of this Act or the
harassment through electronic communications provisions of
Section 1-2 of this Act or committed any similar offense in
any state with the same victim or a member of the victim's
family or household;
(3) At the time of the offense, the offender was under
conditions of bail, probation, mandatory supervised
release or was the subject of an order of protection, in
this or any other state, prohibiting contact with the
victim or any member of the victim's family or household;
(4) In the course of the offense, the offender
threatened to kill the victim or any member of the victim's
family or household;
(5) The person has been convicted in the last 10 years
of a forcible felony as defined in Section 2-8 of the

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Criminal Code of 1961;
(6) The person violates paragraph (4.1) of Section 1-1
or paragraph (3.1) of subsection (a) of Section 1-2; or
(7) The person was at least 18 years of age at the time
of the commission of the offense and the victim was under
18 years of age at the time of the commission of the
offense.
(c)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection (c),
a person who violates paragraph (4.1), (4.2), (4.3), or (4.4)
of subsection (a) of Section 1-2 of this Act is guilty of a
Class A misdemeanor.
(2) A person who is 21 years of age or over who violates
paragraph (4.1), (4.2), (4.3), or (4.4) of subsection (a) of
Section 1-2 of this Act in which the victim of the offense, at
the time of the commission of the offense, is under 17 years of
age is guilty of a Class 4 felony.
(3) A person who violates paragraph (4.1), (4.2), (4.3), or
(4.4) of subsection (a) of Section 1-2 of this Act who has
previously pleaded guilty to or has been found guilty of a
violation of paragraph (4.1), (4.2), (4.3), or (4.4) of
subsection (a) of Section 1-2 of this Act or of any similar
offense committed in violation of any county or municipal
ordinance of this State or any other state, any similar state
law of another state, or any similar federal law, including a
violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, is guilty of
a Class 4 felony.

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(Source: P.A. 95-984, eff. 6-1-09.)