New Illinois Legal Tools Against Cyberstalkers

New Illinois Legal Tools Against Cyberstalkers

by Susan Basko, esq.

Starting in 2019, Illinois ramped up the protections against cyberstalkers by making it illegal to send unwanted social media messages.  This is part of the civil restraining order law. The order puts the stalker on notice  -- and then any unwanted social media messages are a violation that can get the person arrested and charged. 

Section 5. The Stalking No Contact Order Act is amended by

changing Sections 5, 10, and 15 as follows:

(740 ILCS 21/5)

Sec. 5. Purpose. Stalking generally refers to a course of

conduct, not a single act. Stalking behavior includes following

a person, conducting surveillance of the person, appearing at

the person's home, work or school, making unwanted phone calls,

sending unwanted emails, unwanted messages via social media, or

text messages, leaving objects for the person, vandalizing the

person's property, or injuring a pet. Stalking is a serious

crime. Victims experience fear for their safety, fear for the

safety of others and suffer emotional distress. Many victims

alter their daily routines to avoid the persons who are

stalking them. Some victims are in such fear that they relocate

to another city, town or state. While estimates suggest that

70% of victims know the individuals stalking them, only 30% of

victims have dated or been in intimate relationships with their

stalkers. All stalking victims should be able to seek a civil

remedy requiring the offenders stay away from the victims and

third parties.

(Source: P.A. 96-246, eff. 1-1-10.) The law also adds as prohibited places of contact workplaces, schools, and places of worship -- and authorized those in charge of those places to file restraining orders.   (740 ILCS 21/10)     Sec. 10. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act:     "Course of conduct" means 2 or more acts, including but not limited to acts in which a respondent directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, method, device, or means follows, monitors, observes, surveils, or threatens, or communicates to or about, a person, workplace, school, or place of worship, engages in other contact, or interferes with or damages a person's property or pet. A course of conduct may include contact via electronic communications. The incarceration of a person in a penal institution who commits the course of conduct is not a bar to prosecution under this Section.     "Emotional distress" means significant mental suffering, anxiety or alarm.     "Contact" includes any contact with the victim, that is initiated or continued without the victim's consent, or that is in disregard of the victim's expressed desire that the contact be avoided or discontinued, including but not limited to being in the physical presence of the victim; appearing within the sight of the victim; approaching or confronting the victim in a public place or on private property; appearing at the workplace or residence of the victim; entering onto or remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim; or placing an object on, or delivering an object to, property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim; and appearing at the prohibited workplace, school, or place of worship.     "Petitioner" means any named petitioner for the stalking no contact order or any named victim of stalking on whose behalf the petition is brought. "Petitioner" includes an authorized agent of a place of employment, an authorized agent of a place of worship, or an authorized agent of a school.     "Reasonable person" means a person in the petitioner's circumstances with the petitioner's knowledge of the respondent and the respondent's prior acts.     "Stalking" means engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person, and he or she knows or should know that this course of conduct would cause a reasonable person to fear for his or her safety, the safety of a workplace, school, or place of worship, or the safety of a third person or suffer emotional distress. Stalking does not include an exercise of the right to free speech or assembly that is otherwise lawful or picketing occurring at the workplace that is otherwise lawful and arises out of a bona fide labor dispute, including any controversy concerning wages, salaries, hours, working conditions or benefits, including health and welfare, sick leave, insurance, and pension or retirement provisions, the making or maintaining of collective bargaining agreements, and the terms to be included in those agreements.     "Stalking No Contact Order" means an emergency order or  plenary order granted under this Act, which includes a remedy authorized by Section 80 of this Act. (Source: P.A. 96-246, eff. 1-1-10.) The law widens the group of people who may apply for a restraining order to include those who are being stalked -- which includes those who fear for their safety or suffer distress because of unwanted contact, including unwanted social media postings.   (740 ILCS 21/15)     Sec. 15. Persons protected by this Act. A petition for a stalking no contact order may be filed when relief is not available to the petitioner under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986:         (1) by any person who is a victim of stalking; or         (2) by a person on behalf of a minor child or an adult     who is a victim of stalking but, because of age,     disability, health, or inaccessibility, cannot file the     petition; .         (3) by an authorized agent of a workplace;         (4) by an authorized agent of a place of worship; or         (5) by an authorized agent of a school. (Source: P.A. 96-246, eff. 1-1-10.) These new changes to the Illinois stalking law give good new tools to combat stalkers and cyberstalkers.  The criminal portion of the Illinois Stalking and Cyberstalking laws are already quite protective.