HCS SS SCS SB 818 & 795 -- HARASSMENT AND STALKING

SPONSOR:  Rupp (Smith, 14)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Crime
Prevention and Public Safety by a vote of 8 to 0.

This substitute changes the laws regarding harassment and
stalking.  A person commits the crime of harassment if he or she:

(1)  Knowingly communicates a threat to commit a felony to
another person and in so doing, frightens, intimidates, or causes
emotional distress to the person;

(2)  Knowingly uses coarse language offensive to a person of
average sensibility which puts the person in reasonable
apprehension of offensive physical contact or harm;

(3)  Knowingly frightens, intimidates, or causes emotional
distress to another person by anonymously making a telephone call
or any electronic communication;

(4)  Knowingly communicates with another person who is or
purports to be younger than 18 years of age and in so doing and
without good cause recklessly frightens, intimidates, or causes
emotional distress to the other person;

(5)  Knowingly makes repeated unwanted communications to another
person; or

(6)  Purposely and without good cause engages in any other act
that frightens, intimidates, or causes emotional distress to
another person and the person's response to the act is one of a
person of average sensibilities considering the age of the
victim.

The penalty for the crime of harassment is increased from a class
A misdemeanor to a class D felony when a person at least 21 years
of age commits the crime against an individual younger than 18
years of age or the person has had a previous harassment
violation.

Currently, a person commits the crime of aggravated stalking when
he or she purposely and repeatedly harasses or follows with the
intent of harassing or harasses another person and makes a
credible threat with the intent to place that person in
reasonably fear of death or serious physical injury.  The
substitute expands this crime to include situations in which a
person purposely, through his or her course of conduct, harasses
or follows with the intent of harassing another person and makes
a credible threat, at least one of the acts constituting the
course of conduct is in violation of an order of protection and
the person has received actual notice of the order; at least one
of the actions constituting the course of conduct is in violation
of a condition of probation, parole, pretrial release, or release
on bond pending appeal; at any time during the course of conduct
the other person is younger than 18 years of age and the person
harassing is at least 21 years of age; or he or she has
previously pled guilty to or been found guilty of domestic
assault, violation of an order of protection, or any other crime
where the other person was the victim.

The penalty for the crime of stalking is increased from a class A
misdemeanor to a class D felony if the person has previously pled
guilty to or been found guilty of a stalking violation.  The
penalty for the crime of aggravated stalking is increased from a
class D felony to a class C felony if the person has previously
pled guilty to or been found guilty of a stalking violation.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Cost on General Revenue Fund of Less than
$100,000 in FY 2009, FY 2010, and FY 2011.  No impact on Other
State Funds in FY 2009, FY 2010, and FY 2011.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that glaring deficiencies in our
harassment statutes became apparent after a young woman in St.
Louis took her own life after receiving harassing messages over
the Internet.  Cyberbullying has been identified as a public
health crisis; yet under current Missouri laws, you can't
prosecute cases involving this behavior.  The bill addresses the
increasingly serious problem of Internet bullying.

Testifying for the bill were Senator Rupp; Doug Abrams; Tina
Meier; Brian Keedy, Office of Prosecution Services; Diane
Parsons; Nancy Steward; and DeAnna Noriega.

OPPONENTS:  Those who oppose the bill say that it is imperative
that the state have strong and comprehensive harassment statutes
but believe that the language in the bill is too broad.

Testifying against the bill was American Civil Liberties Union of
Eastern Missouri.

Missouri House of Representatives
94th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated October 15, 2008 at 3:12 pm