Bill Text: MS SB2471 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Cyberbullying; revise and clarify electronic communication offenses.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2014-03-04 - Died In Committee [SB2471 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2014-SB2471-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2014 Regular Session
To: Judiciary, Division B
By: Senator(s) Montgomery
Senate Bill 2471
AN ACT TO REVISE AND CLARIFY ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION OFFENSES; TO AMEND SECTION 97-29-45, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE OFFENSE OF OBSCENE ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION; TO AMEND SECTION 97-45-15, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE OFFENSE OF CYBER-STALKING; TO AMEND SECTION 97-45-17, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE OFFENSE OF CYBER-BULLYING; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 97-29-45, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
97-29-45. Obscene or harassing electronic and telecommunications. (1) It shall be unlawful for any person or persons:
(a) To make any comment, request, suggestion or proposal by means of telecommunication or electronic communication which is obscene, lewd or lascivious with intent to abuse, threaten or harass any party to a telephone conversation, telecommunication or electronic communication;
(b) To make a
telecommunication or electronic communication with intent to terrify,
intimidate or harass, * * *
or threaten to inflict injury or physical harm to any person or to his
property;
(c) To make a telephone call or other telecommunication or electronic communication, whether or not conversation ensues, without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any person at the called number or electronic address;
(d) To make or cause the telephone of another repeatedly or continuously to ring, with intent to harass any person at the called number;
(e) To make repeated
telephone calls, * * * whether or not conversation ensues, solely to harass
any person at the called number; or
(f) Knowingly to permit a computer, electronic device or a telephone of any type under his control to be used for any purpose prohibited by this section.
(2) Upon conviction of any
person for the first offense of violating subsection (1) of this section, * * * the person shall be fined not more
than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or imprisoned in the county jail for not
more than six (6) months, or both.
(3) Upon conviction of any
person for the second offense of violating subsection (1) of this section, the
offenses being committed within a period of five (5) years, * * * the person shall be fined not more
than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or imprisoned in the county jail for not
more than one (1) year, or both.
(4) For any third or
subsequent conviction of any person violating subsection (1) of this section,
the offenses being committed within a period of five (5) years, * * * the person shall be guilty of a
felony and fined not more than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) * * * or imprisoned in the * * * custody of the Department
of Corrections for not more than two (2) years, or both.
(5) The provisions of this section do not apply to a person or persons who make a telephone call that would be covered by the provisions of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USCS Section 1692 et seq.
(6) Any person violating
this section may be prosecuted in the county where the telephone call,
conversation, electronic communication or language originates * * * if the call, conversation
or language originates in the State of Mississippi. * * * If the call, conversation or
language originates outside of the State of Mississippi, then * * * the person shall be prosecuted in
the county to which * * * the communication is transmitted.
(7) For the purposes of this section, "telecommunication" and "electronic communication" mean and include any type of telephonic, electronic or radio communications, or transmission of signs, signals, data, writings, images and sounds or intelligence of any nature by telephone, including, without limitation, cellular telephones, satellite telephones, wire, cable, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic or photo-optical system or the creation, display, management, storage, processing, transmission or distribution of images, text, voice, video or data by wire, cable or wireless means, including the Internet.
(8) No person shall be held to have violated this section solely for providing access or connection to telecommunications or electronic communications services where the services do not include the creation of the content of the communication. Companies organized to do business as commercial broadcast radio stations, television stations, telecommunications service providers, Internet service providers, cable service providers or news organizations shall not be criminally liable under this section.
SECTION 2. Section 97-45-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
97-45-15. (1) * * * A person * * * commits the offense of cyber-stalking if
the person:
(a) Uses 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 other things of value from any person.
(b) Electronically mails or electronically communicates to another repeatedly, whether or not conversation ensues, for the purpose of threatening, terrifying or harassing any person.
(c) Electronically mails or electronically communicates 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 threaten, terrify or harass.
(d) Knowingly permits an electronic communication device under the person's control to be used for any purpose prohibited by this section.
(2) (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, whoever commits the offense of cyber-stalking shall be punished, upon conviction, as follows:
(i) Upon conviction of any person for the first offense of violating subsection (1) of this section, the person shall be fined not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or imprisoned in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or both.
( * * *ii) * * * Upon conviction
of any person for the second or subsequent offense of violating subsection (1)
of this section, the person is guilty of a felony punishable by
imprisonment for not more than two (2) years or a fine of not more than Five
Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both.
(b) If any of the following apply, the person convicted is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than five (5) years or a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both:
(i) The offense is in violation of a restraining order and the person has received actual notice of that restraining order or posting the message is in violation of an injunction or preliminary injunction.
(ii) The offense is in violation of a condition of probation, a condition of parole, a condition of pretrial release or a condition of release on bond pending appeal.
(iii) The offense results in a credible threat being communicated to the victim, a member of the victim's family, or another individual living in the same household as the victim.
(iv) The person
has been previously convicted of violating * * * a substantially similar law of
another state, a political subdivision of another state, or of the United
States.
(3) This section does not apply to any peaceable, nonviolent, or nonthreatening activity intended to express political views or to provide lawful information to others. This section shall not be construed to impair any constitutionally protected activity, including speech, protest or assembly.
(4) Any person violating this section may be prosecuted in the county where the telephone call, conversation, electronic communication or language originates if the call, conversation or language originates in the State of Mississippi. If the call, conversation or language originates outside of the State of Mississippi, then the person shall be prosecuted in the county to which it is transmitted.
SECTION 3. Section 97-45-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
97-45-17. (1) A person
shall not post a message for the purpose of causing injury to any person
through the use of any medium of communication, including the Internet or a
computer, computer program, computer system * * *, computer network, or other
electronic medium of communication without the victim's consent * * *.
(2) (a) * * * Upon conviction of any person * * * for the first offense of
violating subsection (1) of this section, * * * the person shall be fined
not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or imprisoned in the county jail
for not more than six (6) months, or both.
(b) Upon conviction of any person for the second or subsequent offense of violating subsection (1) of this section, the person shall be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than five (5) years or a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both.
(3) Any person violating this section may be prosecuted in the county where the telephone call, conversation, electronic communication or language originates if the call, conversation or language originates in the State of Mississippi. If the call, conversation or language originates outside of the State of Mississippi, then the person shall be prosecuted in the county to which it is transmitted.
SECTION 4. For the purposes of this act, the following words shall have the meanings ascribed to them unless the context requires otherwise:
(a) "Harass" means to engage in a course of conduct directed at a specific person which causes substantial emotional distress to that person and serves no legitimate purpose.
(b) "Course of conduct" means a pattern of conduct composed of a series of acts over a period of time, however short, which evidences a continuity of purpose. The term does not include constitutionally protected activity such as picketing or other organized protests.
(c) "Credible threat" means a verbal or nonverbal threat, or a combination of the two, including threats delivered by electronic communication or implied by a pattern of conduct, which places the person who is the target of the threat in reasonable fear for his or her safety or the safety of his or her family members or individuals closely associated with the person, and which is made with the apparent ability to carry out the threat to cause such harm. It is not necessary to prove that the person making the threat had the intent to actually carry out the threat. The present incarceration of the person making the threat is not a bar to prosecution under this section.
(d) "Cyber-stalk" means to engage in a course of conduct to communicate, or to cause to be communicated, words, images, or language by or through the use of electronic mail or electronic communication, directed at a specific person, causing substantial emotional distress to that person and serving no legitimate purpose.
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.
