South Carolina General Assembly
115th Session, 2003-2004

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S. 57

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Senators Elliott, Mescher and Reese
Document Path: l:\council\bills\swb\5046cm03.doc

Introduced in the Senate on January 14, 2003
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary

Summary: Cyberstalking unlawful

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   12/4/2002  Senate  Prefiled
   12/4/2002  Senate  Referred to Committee on Judiciary
   1/14/2003  Senate  Introduced and read first time SJ-43
   1/14/2003  Senate  Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-43

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

12/4/2002

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 16-3-1700, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE DEFINITIONS OF "HARASSMENT" AND "STALKING", SO AS TO REVISE THE DEFINITIONS OF HARASSMENT AND STALKING, DEFINE "CYBERSTALKING", "ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION", AND "ELECTRONIC MAIL"; TO AMEND CHAPTER 3, TITLE 16, RELATING TO OFFENSES AGAINST THE PERSON, BY ADDING SECTION 16-3-1725, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT IT IS UNLAWFUL FOR A PERSON TO ENGAGE IN CYBERSTALKING OR TO UNLAWFULLY HARASS OR STALK ANOTHER PERSON BY ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION OR ELECTRONIC MAIL AND TO PROVIDE PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF THIS SECTION.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Section 16-3-1700 of the 1976 Code, as amended by Act 81 of 2001, is further amended to read:

"Section 16-3-1700.    As used in this article:

(A)    'Harassment' means a pattern of intentional, substantial, and unreasonable intrusion into the private life of a targeted person that causes the person and would cause a reasonable person in his position to suffer mental distress. Harassment may include, but is not limited to:

(1)    following the targeted person as he moves from location to location;

(2)    visual, physical, verbal, written, or electronic contact that is initiated, maintained, or repeated after a person has been provided notice that the contact is unwanted;

(3)    surveillance of or the maintenance of a presence near the targeted person's:

(a)    residence;

(b)    place of work;

(c)    school; or

(d)    another place regularly occupied by the targeted person; and

(4)    vandalism and property damage.; and

(5)    cyberstalking and contact by electronic contact or electronic mail that is initiated, maintained, or repeated after a person has been provided notice that the contact is unwanted.

Harassment does not include words or conduct that is protected by the Constitution of this State or the United States and does not apply to law enforcement officers or process servers performing their official duties.

(B)    'Stalking' means a pattern of words, conduct, written, or electronic, that is intended to cause and does cause a targeted person and would cause a reasonable person in the targeted person's position to fear:

(1)    death of the person or a member of his family;

(2)    assault upon the person or a member of his family;

(3)    bodily injury to the person or a member of his family;

(4)    criminal sexual contact on the person or a member of his family;

(5)    kidnapping of the person or a member of his family; or

(6)    damage to the property of the person or a member of his family.

Stalking includes harassment as defined in subsection (A), but does not include words or conduct that is protected by the Constitution of this State or the United States and does not apply to law enforcement officers or process servers performing their official duties.

(C)    'Cyberstalking' is the use of an electronic communication or electronic mail to unlawfully harass or stalk another person within the meaning of this section.

(D)    'Electronic communication' means any transfer of signs, signals, writings, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted by a wire, radio, computer, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical system.

(E)    'Electronic mail' means the transmission of information or communication by the use of the Internet, a computer, a facsimile machine, a pager, a cellular telephone, a video recorder, or other electronic means sent to a person identified by a unique address or address number and received by that person.

Cyberstalking does not include peaceable, nonviolent, or nonthreatening activity intended to express political views or to lawfully provide information to others. This section does not apply to law enforcement officers when acting within the course and scope of their official duties and must not be construed to impair any constitutionally protected activity including speech, protest, or assembly.

(C)(F)    'Aggravated stalking' means stalking accompanied or followed by an act of violence.

(D)(G)    'Pattern' means two or more acts within a ninety-day period.

(E)(H)    'Family' means a spouse, child, parent, sibling, or a person who regularly resides in the same household as the targeted person.

SECTION    2.    Chapter 3, Title 16 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 16-3-1725.    (A)    It is unlawful for a person to:

(1)    engage in cyberstalking;

(2)    unlawfully harass or stalk another person by electronic mail or electronic communication;

(3)    use in electronic mail or electronic communication any words or language threatening to inflict bodily harm to any person or to that person's child, sibling, spouse, or dependent, or physical injury to the property of any person, or for the purpose of extorting money or any other thing of value from any person;

(4)    electronically mail or electronically communicate to another repeatedly whether or not conversation ensues, for the purpose of abusing, annoying, threatening, terrifying, harassing, or embarrassing any person;

(5)    electronically mail or electronically communicate to another and to knowingly make any false statement concerning death, injury, illness, disfigurement, indecent conduct, or criminal conduct of the person electronically mailed or of any member of the person's family or household with the intent to abuse, annoy, threaten, terrify, harass, or embarrass; or

(6)    knowingly permit an electronic communication device under the person's control to be used for any purpose prohibited by this section.

(B)    The offense of cyberstalking and any other offense in violation of this section that is committed by the use of electronic mail or electronic communication is committed where the electronic mail or electronic communication was originally sent, originally received in this State, or first viewed by any person in this State.

(C)    A person who engages in cyberstalking another person or who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one thousand dollars, imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

(D)    A person who engages in cyberstalking another person or who violates the provisions of this section when an injunction or restraining order is in effect prohibiting this conduct is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than two thousand dollars, imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

(E)    A person who engages in cyberstalking another person or who violates the provisions of this section and who has a prior conviction of harassing, stalking, or cyberstalking a person is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five thousand dollars, imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

(F)    In addition to the penalties provided in this section, a person convicted of stalking who received licensing or registration information pursuant to Article 4 of Chapter 3 of Title 56 and used the information in furtherance of the commission of the offense under this section must be fined one thousand dollars or imprisoned one year, or both.

(G)    This section does not apply to any peaceable, nonviolent, or non-threatening activity intended to express political views or to lawfully provide information to others. This section does not apply to law enforcement officers when acting within the course and scope of their official duties and must not be construed to impair any constitutionally protected activity, including speech, protest, or assembly."

SECTION    3.    All proceedings pending and all rights and liabilities existing, acquired, or accrued at the time this act takes effect are saved. The provisions of this act apply prospectively to crimes and offenses committed on or after the effective date of this act.

SECTION    4.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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