2025 -- H 5671 | |
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LC001854 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- COMPUTER CRIME | |
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Introduced By: Representatives Caldwell, Stewart, Fogarty, Carson, Donovan, McEntee, | |
Date Introduced: February 26, 2025 | |
Referred To: House Judiciary | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Section 11-52-4.2 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-52 entitled "Computer |
2 | Crime" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
3 | 11-52-4.2. Cyberstalking and cyberharassment prohibited. |
4 | (a) Whoever transmits any communication by computer or other electronic device to any |
5 | person or causes any person to be contacted for the sole purpose of harassing that person or his or |
6 | her family is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred |
7 | dollars ($500), by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. For the purpose of this section, |
8 | “harassing” means any knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person which |
9 | seriously alarms, annoys, or bothers the person, and which serves no legitimate purpose. The course |
10 | of conduct must be of a kind that would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional |
11 | distress, or be in fear of bodily injury. “Course of conduct” means a pattern of conduct composed |
12 | of a series of acts over a period of time, evidencing a continuity of purpose. Constitutionally |
13 | protected activity is not included within the meaning of “course of conduct.” |
14 | (b) A second or subsequent conviction under subsection (a) of this section shall be deemed |
15 | a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than two (2) years, by a fine of not more than |
16 | six thousand dollars ($6,000), or both. |
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1 | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- COMPUTER CRIME | |
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1 | This act would make it unnecessary to prove that a person’s transmission of electronic |
2 | communications be for the sole purpose of harassment before being found guilty of cyberstalking |
3 | or cyberharrassment. |
4 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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