Bill Text: IL SB2687 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that, in addition to other elements of the offense, a person commits a hate crime when the person displays or causes to be displayed, on public or private property, a burning cross, a Nazi swastika, a noose, a Confederate flag, or any other known symbol of white supremacist or neo-Nazi beliefs with the intent to intimidate a person or group of persons or incite violence against a person or group of persons. Includes a severability provision.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-14 - Added as Co-Sponsor Sen. Emil Jones, III [SB2687 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB2687-Introduced.html

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB2687

Introduced 1/10/2024, 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, in addition to other elements of the offense, a person commits a hate crime when the person displays or causes to be displayed, on public or private property, a burning cross, a Nazi swastika, a noose, a Confederate flag, or any other known symbol of white supremacist or neo-Nazi beliefs with the intent to intimidate a person or group of persons or incite violence against a person or group of persons. Includes a severability provision.
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A BILL FOR

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1 AN ACT concerning criminal law.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by
5changing Section 12-7.1 as follows:
6 (720 ILCS 5/12-7.1) (from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.1)
7 Sec. 12-7.1. Hate crime.
8 (a) A person commits hate crime when, by reason of the
9actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, ancestry,
10gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability,
11citizenship, immigration status, or national origin of another
12individual or group of individuals, regardless of the
13existence of any other motivating factor or factors: ,
14 (1) The person he or she commits assault, battery,
15 aggravated assault, intimidation, stalking,
16 cyberstalking, misdemeanor theft, criminal trespass to
17 residence, misdemeanor criminal damage to property,
18 criminal trespass to vehicle, criminal trespass to real
19 property, mob action, disorderly conduct, transmission of
20 obscene messages, harassment by telephone, or harassment
21 through electronic communications as these crimes are
22 defined in Sections 12-1, 12-2, 12-3(a), 12-7.3, 12-7.5,
23 16-1, 19-4, 21-1, 21-2, 21-3, 25-1, 26-1, 26.5-1, 26.5-2,

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1 paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(3) of Section 12-6, and
2 paragraphs (a)(2) and (a)(5) of Section 26.5-3 of this
3 Code, respectively.
4 (2) The person displays or causes to be displayed, on
5 public or private property, a burning cross, a Nazi
6 swastika, a noose, a Confederate flag, or any other known
7 symbol of white supremacist or neo-Nazi beliefs with the
8 intent to intimidate a person or group of persons or
9 incite violence against a person or group of persons.
10 (b) Except as provided in subsection (b-5), hate crime is
11a Class 4 felony for a first offense and a Class 2 felony for a
12second or subsequent offense.
13 (b-5) Hate crime is a Class 3 felony for a first offense
14and a Class 2 felony for a second or subsequent offense if
15committed:
16 (1) in, or upon the exterior or grounds of, a church,
17 synagogue, mosque, or other building, structure, or place
18 identified or associated with a particular religion or
19 used for religious worship or other religious purpose;
20 (2) in a cemetery, mortuary, or other facility used
21 for the purpose of burial or memorializing the dead;
22 (3) in a school or other educational facility,
23 including an administrative facility or public or private
24 dormitory facility of or associated with the school or
25 other educational facility;
26 (4) in a public park or an ethnic or religious

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1 community center;
2 (5) on the real property comprising any location
3 specified in clauses (1) through (4) of this subsection
4 (b-5); or
5 (6) on a public way within 1,000 feet of the real
6 property comprising any location specified in clauses (1)
7 through (4) of this subsection (b-5).
8 (b-10) Upon imposition of any sentence, the trial court
9shall also either order restitution paid to the victim or
10impose a fine in an amount to be determined by the court based
11on the severity of the crime and the injury or damages suffered
12by the victim. In addition, any order of probation or
13conditional discharge entered following a conviction or an
14adjudication of delinquency shall include a condition that the
15offender perform public or community service of no less than
16200 hours if that service is established in the county where
17the offender was convicted of hate crime. In addition, any
18order of probation or conditional discharge entered following
19a conviction or an adjudication of delinquency shall include a
20condition that the offender enroll in an educational program
21discouraging hate crimes involving the protected class
22identified in subsection (a) that gave rise to the offense the
23offender committed. The educational program must be attended
24by the offender in-person and may be administered, as
25determined by the court, by a university, college, community
26college, non-profit organization, the Illinois Holocaust and

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1Genocide Commission, or any other organization that provides
2educational programs discouraging hate crimes, except that
3programs administered online or that can otherwise be attended
4remotely are prohibited. The court may also impose any other
5condition of probation or conditional discharge under this
6Section. If the court sentences the offender to imprisonment
7or periodic imprisonment for a violation of this Section, as a
8condition of the offender's mandatory supervised release, the
9court shall require that the offender perform public or
10community service of no less than 200 hours and enroll in an
11educational program discouraging hate crimes involving the
12protected class identified in subsection (a) that gave rise to
13the offense the offender committed.
14 (c) Independent of any criminal prosecution or the result
15of a criminal prosecution, any person suffering injury to his
16or her person, damage to his or her property, intimidation as
17defined in paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(3) of Section
1812-6 of this Code, stalking as defined in Section 12-7.3 of
19this Code, cyberstalking as defined in Section 12-7.5 of this
20Code, disorderly conduct as defined in paragraph (a)(1),
21(a)(4), (a)(5), or (a)(6) of Section 26-1 of this Code,
22transmission of obscene messages as defined in Section 26.5-1
23of this Code, harassment by telephone as defined in Section
2426.5-2 of this Code, or harassment through electronic
25communications as defined in paragraphs (a)(2) and (a)(5) of
26Section 26.5-3 of this Code as a result of a hate crime may

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1bring a civil action for damages, injunction or other
2appropriate relief. The court may award actual damages,
3including damages for emotional distress, as well as punitive
4damages. The court may impose a civil penalty up to $25,000 for
5each violation of this subsection (c). A judgment in favor of a
6person who brings a civil action under this subsection (c)
7shall include attorney's fees and costs. After consulting with
8the local State's Attorney, the Attorney General may bring a
9civil action in the name of the People of the State for an
10injunction or other equitable relief under this subsection
11(c). In addition, the Attorney General may request and the
12court may impose a civil penalty up to $25,000 for each
13violation under this subsection (c). The parents or legal
14guardians, other than guardians appointed pursuant to the
15Juvenile Court Act or the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, of an
16unemancipated minor shall be liable for the amount of any
17judgment for all damages rendered against such minor under
18this subsection (c) in any amount not exceeding the amount
19provided under Section 5 of the Parental Responsibility Law.
20 (d) "Sexual orientation" has the meaning ascribed to it in
21paragraph (O-1) of Section 1-103 of the Illinois Human Rights
22Act.
23 (e) The provisions of this amendatory Act of the 103rd
24General Assembly are severable under Section 1.31 of the
25Statute on Statutes.
26(Source: P.A. 102-235, eff. 1-1-22; 102-468, eff. 1-1-22;

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