Bill Text: IL SB1437 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that a person commits hate crime when, by reason of the actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, citizenship, immigration status, or national origin of another individual or group of individuals, regardless of the existence of any other motivating factor or factors the person displays or causes to be displayed, on public or private property, a burning cross, a Nazi swastika, or a noose, with the intent to intimidate a person or group of persons or incite violence against a person or group of persons. Provides that the provisions of the amendatory Act are severable under the Statute on Statutes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-31 - Referred to Assignments [SB1437 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-SB1437-Introduced.html

---

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1437 Introduced 1/31/2025, by Sen. Adriane Johnson SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
720 ILCS 5/12-7.1 from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.1
Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that a person commits hate crime when, by reason of the actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, citizenship, immigration status, or national origin of another individual or group of individuals, regardless of the existence of any other motivating factor or factors the person displays or causes to be displayed, on public or private property, a burning cross, a Nazi swastika, or a noose, with the intent to intimidate a person or group of persons or incite violence against a person or group of persons. Provides that the provisions of the amendatory Act are severable under the Statute on Statutes.
LRB104 08041 RLC 18087 b
A BILL FOR
SB1437 LRB104 08041 RLC 18087 b
AN ACT concerning criminal law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by
changing Section 12-7.1 as follows:
(720 ILCS 5/12-7.1) (from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.1)
Sec. 12-7.1. Hate crime.
(a) A person commits hate crime when, by reason of the
actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, ancestry,
gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability,
citizenship, immigration status, or national origin of another
individual or group of individuals, regardless of the
existence of any other motivating factor or factors: , he or
she
(1) The person commits assault, battery, aggravated
assault, intimidation, stalking, cyberstalking,
misdemeanor theft, criminal trespass to residence,
misdemeanor criminal damage to property, criminal trespass
to vehicle, criminal trespass to real property, mob
action, disorderly conduct, transmission of obscene
messages, harassment by telephone, or harassment through
electronic communications as these crimes are defined in
Sections 12-1, 12-2, 12-3(a), 12-7.3, 12-7.5, 16-1, 19-4,

SB1437 - 2 - LRB104 08041 RLC 18087 b
21-1, 21-2, 21-3, 25-1, 26-1, 26.5-1, 26.5-2, paragraphs
(a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(3) of Section 12-6, and paragraphs
(a)(2) and (a)(5) of Section 26.5-3 of this Code,
respectively.
(2) The person displays or causes to be displayed, on
public or private property, a burning cross, a Nazi
swastika, or a noose, with the intent to intimidate a
person or group of persons or incite violence against a
person or group of persons.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (b-5), hate crime is
a Class 4 felony for a first offense and a Class 2 felony for a
second or subsequent offense.
(b-5) Hate crime is a Class 3 felony for a first offense
and a Class 2 felony for a second or subsequent offense if
committed:
(1) in, or upon the exterior or grounds of, a church,
synagogue, mosque, or other building, structure, or place
identified or associated with a particular religion or
used for religious worship or other religious purpose;
(2) in a cemetery, mortuary, or other facility used
for the purpose of burial or memorializing the dead;
(3) in a school or other educational facility,
including an administrative facility or public or private
dormitory facility of or associated with the school or
other educational facility;
(4) in a public park or an ethnic or religious

SB1437 - 3 - LRB104 08041 RLC 18087 b
community center;
(5) on the real property comprising any location
specified in clauses (1) through (4) of this subsection
(b-5); or
(6) on a public way within 1,000 feet of the real
property comprising any location specified in clauses (1)
through (4) of this subsection (b-5).
(b-10) Upon imposition of any sentence, the trial court
shall also either order restitution paid to the victim or
impose a fine in an amount to be determined by the court based
on the severity of the crime and the injury or damages suffered
by the victim. In addition, any order of probation or
conditional discharge entered following a conviction or an
adjudication of delinquency shall include a condition that the
offender perform public or community service of no less than
200 hours if that service is established in the county where
the offender was convicted of hate crime. In addition, any
order of probation or conditional discharge entered following
a conviction or an adjudication of delinquency shall include a
condition that the offender enroll in an educational program
discouraging hate crimes involving the protected class
identified in subsection (a) that gave rise to the offense the
offender committed. The educational program must be attended
by the offender in-person and may be administered, as
determined by the court, by a university, college, community
college, non-profit organization, the Illinois Holocaust and

SB1437 - 4 - LRB104 08041 RLC 18087 b
Genocide Commission, or any other organization that provides
educational programs discouraging hate crimes, except that
programs administered online or that can otherwise be attended
remotely are prohibited. The court may also impose any other
condition of probation or conditional discharge under this
Section. If the court sentences the offender to imprisonment
or periodic imprisonment for a violation of this Section, as a
condition of the offender's mandatory supervised release, the
court shall require that the offender perform public or
community service of no less than 200 hours and enroll in an
educational program discouraging hate crimes involving the
protected class identified in subsection (a) that gave rise to
the offense the offender committed.
(c) Independent of any criminal prosecution or the result
of a criminal prosecution, any person suffering injury to his
or her person, damage to his or her property, intimidation as
defined in paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(3) of Section
12-6 of this Code, stalking as defined in Section 12-7.3 of
this Code, cyberstalking as defined in Section 12-7.5 of this
Code, disorderly conduct as defined in paragraph (a)(1),
(a)(4), (a)(5), or (a)(6) of Section 26-1 of this Code,
transmission of obscene messages as defined in Section 26.5-1
of this Code, harassment by telephone as defined in Section
26.5-2 of this Code, or harassment through electronic
communications as defined in paragraphs (a)(2) and (a)(5) of
Section 26.5-3 of this Code as a result of a hate crime may

SB1437 - 5 - LRB104 08041 RLC 18087 b
bring a civil action for damages, injunction or other
appropriate relief. The court may award actual damages,
including damages for emotional distress, as well as punitive
damages. The court may impose a civil penalty up to $25,000 for
each violation of this subsection (c). A judgment in favor of a
person who brings a civil action under this subsection (c)
shall include attorney's fees and costs. After consulting with
the local State's Attorney, the Attorney General may bring a
civil action in the name of the People of the State for an
injunction or other equitable relief under this subsection
(c). In addition, the Attorney General may request and the
court may impose a civil penalty up to $25,000 for each
violation under this subsection (c). The parents or legal
guardians, other than guardians appointed pursuant to the
Juvenile Court Act or the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, of an
unemancipated minor shall be liable for the amount of any
judgment for all damages rendered against such minor under
this subsection (c) in any amount not exceeding the amount
provided under Section 5 of the Parental Responsibility Law.
(d) "Sexual orientation" has the meaning ascribed to it in
paragraph (O-1) of Section 1-103 of the Illinois Human Rights
Act.
(e) The provisions of this amendatory Act of the 104th
General Assembly are severable under Section 1.31 of the
Statute on Statutes.
(Source: P.A. 102-235, eff. 1-1-22; 102-468, eff. 1-1-22;

SB1437 - 6 - LRB104 08041 RLC 18087 b