Bill Text: IL SB2204 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Engrossed
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that a person commits stalking when he or she knowingly makes threats that are a part of a course of conduct and is aware of the threatening nature of his or her speech.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2021-08-20 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 102-0547 [SB2204 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2021-SB2204-Engrossed.html
Bill Title: Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that a person commits stalking when he or she knowingly makes threats that are a part of a course of conduct and is aware of the threatening nature of his or her speech.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2021-08-20 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 102-0547 [SB2204 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2021-SB2204-Engrossed.html
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1 | AN ACT concerning criminal law.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by | ||||||
5 | changing Section 12-7.3 as follows:
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6 | (720 ILCS 5/12-7.3) (from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.3)
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7 | Sec. 12-7.3. Stalking.
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8 | (a) A person commits stalking when he or she knowingly | ||||||
9 | engages in a course of conduct directed at a specific person, | ||||||
10 | and he or she knows or should know that this course of conduct | ||||||
11 | would cause a reasonable person to: | ||||||
12 | (1) fear for his or her safety or the safety of a third | ||||||
13 | person; or | ||||||
14 | (2) suffer other emotional distress. | ||||||
15 | (a-3) A person commits stalking when he or she, knowingly | ||||||
16 | and without
lawful justification, on at least 2 separate | ||||||
17 | occasions follows
another person
or places the person under | ||||||
18 | surveillance or any combination thereof and:
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19 | (1) at any time transmits a threat of immediate or | ||||||
20 | future bodily harm, sexual
assault, confinement or | ||||||
21 | restraint and the threat is directed towards that
person | ||||||
22 | or a family member of that
person; or
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23 | (2) places that person in reasonable apprehension of |
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1 | immediate or future
bodily harm, sexual assault, | ||||||
2 | confinement or restraint to or of that person or a family | ||||||
3 | member of that person.
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4 | (a-5) A person commits stalking when he or she has | ||||||
5 | previously been
convicted of stalking another person and | ||||||
6 | knowingly and without lawful
justification on one occasion:
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7 | (1) follows that same person or places that same | ||||||
8 | person under
surveillance; and
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9 | (2) transmits a threat of immediate or future bodily | ||||||
10 | harm, sexual
assault, confinement or restraint to that | ||||||
11 | person or a family member of that person.
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12 | (a-7) A person commits stalking when he or she knowingly | ||||||
13 | makes threats that are a part of a course of conduct and is | ||||||
14 | aware of the threatening nature of his or her speech. | ||||||
15 | (b) Sentence.
Stalking is a Class 4 felony; a second or | ||||||
16 | subsequent
conviction is a Class 3 felony.
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17 | (c) Definitions. For purposes of this Section: | ||||||
18 | (1) "Course of conduct" means 2 or more acts, | ||||||
19 | including but not limited to acts in which a defendant | ||||||
20 | directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any | ||||||
21 | action, method, device, or means follows, monitors, | ||||||
22 | observes, surveils, threatens, or communicates to or | ||||||
23 | about, a person, engages in other non-consensual contact, | ||||||
24 | or interferes with or damages a person's property or pet. | ||||||
25 | A course of conduct may include contact via electronic | ||||||
26 | communications. |
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1 | (2) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of | ||||||
2 | signs, signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of | ||||||
3 | any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, | ||||||
4 | radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical | ||||||
5 | system. "Electronic communication" includes transmissions | ||||||
6 | by a computer through the Internet to another computer. | ||||||
7 | (3) "Emotional distress" means significant mental | ||||||
8 | suffering, anxiety or alarm. | ||||||
9 | (4) "Family member" means a parent,
grandparent, | ||||||
10 | brother, sister, or child, whether by whole blood, | ||||||
11 | half-blood, or
adoption and includes a step-grandparent, | ||||||
12 | step-parent, step-brother,
step-sister or step-child. | ||||||
13 | "Family member" also means any other person who
regularly | ||||||
14 | resides in the household, or who, within the prior 6 | ||||||
15 | months,
regularly resided in the household. | ||||||
16 | (5) "Follows another person" means (i) to
move in | ||||||
17 | relative proximity to a person as that person moves from | ||||||
18 | place to place
or (ii) to remain in relative proximity to a | ||||||
19 | person who is stationary or whose
movements are confined | ||||||
20 | to a small area.
"Follows another person" does not
include | ||||||
21 | a following within the residence of the defendant. | ||||||
22 | (6) "Non-consensual contact" means any contact with | ||||||
23 | the victim that is initiated or continued without the | ||||||
24 | victim's consent, including but not limited to being in | ||||||
25 | the physical presence of the victim; appearing within the | ||||||
26 | sight of the victim; approaching or confronting the victim |
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1 | in a public place or on private property; appearing at the | ||||||
2 | workplace or residence of the victim; entering onto or | ||||||
3 | remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the | ||||||
4 | victim; or placing an object on, or delivering an object | ||||||
5 | to, property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim. | ||||||
6 | (7) "Places a person under
surveillance" means: (1) | ||||||
7 | remaining present outside the person's school, place of
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8 | employment, vehicle, other place occupied by the person, | ||||||
9 | or residence other
than the residence of the defendant; or | ||||||
10 | (2) placing an electronic tracking device on the person or | ||||||
11 | the person's property. | ||||||
12 | (8) "Reasonable person" means a person in the victim's | ||||||
13 | situation. | ||||||
14 | (9) "Transmits a threat" means a verbal
or
written | ||||||
15 | threat or a threat implied by a pattern of conduct or a | ||||||
16 | combination of
verbal or written statements or conduct. | ||||||
17 | (d) Exemptions. | ||||||
18 | (1) This Section does not apply to any individual or | ||||||
19 | organization (i) monitoring or attentive to compliance | ||||||
20 | with public or worker safety laws, wage and hour | ||||||
21 | requirements, or other statutory requirements, or (ii) | ||||||
22 | picketing occurring at the workplace that is otherwise | ||||||
23 | lawful and arises out of a bona fide labor dispute, | ||||||
24 | including any controversy concerning wages, salaries, | ||||||
25 | hours, working conditions or benefits, including health | ||||||
26 | and welfare, sick leave, insurance, and pension or |
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1 | retirement provisions, the making or maintaining of | ||||||
2 | collective bargaining agreements, and the terms to be | ||||||
3 | included in those agreements. | ||||||
4 | (2) This Section does not apply to an exercise of the | ||||||
5 | right to free speech or assembly that is otherwise lawful. | ||||||
6 | (3) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile | ||||||
7 | service providers, and providers of information services, | ||||||
8 | including, but not limited to, Internet service providers | ||||||
9 | and hosting service providers, are not liable under this | ||||||
10 | Section, except for willful and wanton misconduct, by | ||||||
11 | virtue of the transmission, storage, or caching of | ||||||
12 | electronic communications or messages of others or by | ||||||
13 | virtue of the provision of other related | ||||||
14 | telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or | ||||||
15 | information services used by others in violation of this | ||||||
16 | Section. | ||||||
17 | (d-5) The incarceration of a person in a penal institution | ||||||
18 | who commits the course of conduct or transmits a
threat is not | ||||||
19 | a bar to prosecution under this Section.
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20 | (d-10) A defendant who directed the actions of a third | ||||||
21 | party to violate this Section, under the principles of | ||||||
22 | accountability set forth in Article 5 of this Code, is guilty | ||||||
23 | of violating this Section as if the same had been personally | ||||||
24 | done by the defendant, without regard to the mental state of | ||||||
25 | the third party acting at the direction of the defendant. | ||||||
26 | (Source: P.A. 96-686, eff. 1-1-10; 96-1551, eff. 7-1-11; |
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1 | 97-311, eff. 8-11-11; 97-1109, eff. 1-1-13.)
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