Bill Text: IL HB2938 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that a person commits a hate crime if the person commits specified crimes by reason of the actual or perceived employment as a peace officer of another individual, regardless of the existence of any other motivating factor or factors.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-02-16 - Referred to Rules Committee [HB2938 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB2938-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB2938 Introduced , by Rep. David Friess SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
720 ILCS 5/12-7.1 from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.1
Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that a person commits a hate crime if the person commits specified crimes by reason of the actual or perceived employment as a peace officer of another individual, regardless of the existence of any other motivating factor or factors.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning criminal law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by
changing Section 12-7.1 as follows:
(720 ILCS 5/12-7.1) (from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.1)
Sec. 12-7.1. Hate crime.
(a) A person commits hate crime when, by reason of the
actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, ancestry,
gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability,
citizenship, immigration status, or national origin of another
individual or group of individuals, or by reason of the actual
or perceived employment as a peace officer of another
individual, regardless of the existence of any other
motivating factor or factors, he or she commits assault,
battery, aggravated assault, intimidation, stalking,
cyberstalking, misdemeanor theft, criminal trespass to
residence, misdemeanor criminal damage to property, criminal
trespass to vehicle, criminal trespass to real property, mob
action, disorderly conduct, transmission of obscene messages,
harassment by telephone, or harassment through electronic
communications as these crimes are defined in Sections 12-1,
12-2, 12-3(a), 12-7.3, 12-7.5, 16-1, 19-4, 21-1, 21-2, 21-3,

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25-1, 26-1, 26.5-1, 26.5-2, paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(2), and
(a)(3) of Section 12-6, and paragraphs (a)(2) and (a)(5) of
Section 26.5-3 of this Code, respectively.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (b-5), hate crime is
a Class 4 felony for a first offense and a Class 2 felony for a
second or subsequent offense.
(b-5) Hate crime is a Class 3 felony for a first offense
and a Class 2 felony for a second or subsequent offense if
committed:
(1) in, or upon the exterior or grounds of, a church,
synagogue, mosque, or other building, structure, or place
identified or associated with a particular religion or
used for religious worship or other religious purpose;
(2) in a cemetery, mortuary, or other facility used
for the purpose of burial or memorializing the dead;
(3) in a school or other educational facility,
including an administrative facility or public or private
dormitory facility of or associated with the school or
other educational facility;
(4) in a public park or an ethnic or religious
community center;
(5) on the real property comprising any location
specified in clauses (1) through (4) of this subsection
(b-5); or
(6) on a public way within 1,000 feet of the real
property comprising any location specified in clauses (1)

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through (4) of this subsection (b-5).
(b-10) Upon imposition of any sentence, the trial court
shall also either order restitution paid to the victim or
impose a fine in an amount to be determined by the court based
on the severity of the crime and the injury or damages suffered
by the victim. In addition, any order of probation or
conditional discharge entered following a conviction or an
adjudication of delinquency shall include a condition that the
offender perform public or community service of no less than
200 hours if that service is established in the county where
the offender was convicted of hate crime. In addition, any
order of probation or conditional discharge entered following
a conviction or an adjudication of delinquency shall include a
condition that the offender enroll in an educational program
discouraging hate crimes involving the protected class
identified in subsection (a) that gave rise to the offense the
offender committed. The educational program must be attended
by the offender in-person and may be administered, as
determined by the court, by a university, college, community
college, non-profit organization, the Illinois Holocaust and
Genocide Commission, or any other organization that provides
educational programs discouraging hate crimes, except that
programs administered online or that can otherwise be attended
remotely are prohibited. The court may also impose any other
condition of probation or conditional discharge under this
Section. If the court sentences the offender to imprisonment

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or periodic imprisonment for a violation of this Section, as a
condition of the offender's mandatory supervised release, the
court shall require that the offender perform public or
community service of no less than 200 hours and enroll in an
educational program discouraging hate crimes involving the
protected class identified in subsection (a) that gave rise to
the offense the offender committed.
(c) Independent of any criminal prosecution or the result
of a criminal prosecution, any person suffering injury to his
or her person, damage to his or her property, intimidation as
defined in paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(3) of Section
12-6 of this Code, stalking as defined in Section 12-7.3 of
this Code, cyberstalking as defined in Section 12-7.5 of this
Code, disorderly conduct as defined in paragraph (a)(1),
(a)(4), (a)(5), or (a)(6) of Section 26-1 of this Code,
transmission of obscene messages as defined in Section 26.5-1
of this Code, harassment by telephone as defined in Section
26.5-2 of this Code, or harassment through electronic
communications as defined in paragraphs (a)(2) and (a)(5) of
Section 26.5-3 of this Code as a result of a hate crime may
bring a civil action for damages, injunction or other
appropriate relief. The court may award actual damages,
including damages for emotional distress, as well as punitive
damages. The court may impose a civil penalty up to $25,000 for
each violation of this subsection (c). A judgment in favor of a
person who brings a civil action under this subsection (c)

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shall include attorney's fees and costs. After consulting with
the local State's Attorney, the Attorney General may bring a
civil action in the name of the People of the State for an
injunction or other equitable relief under this subsection
(c). In addition, the Attorney General may request and the
court may impose a civil penalty up to $25,000 for each
violation under this subsection (c). The parents or legal
guardians, other than guardians appointed pursuant to the
Juvenile Court Act or the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, of an
unemancipated minor shall be liable for the amount of any
judgment for all damages rendered against such minor under
this subsection (c) in any amount not exceeding the amount
provided under Section 5 of the Parental Responsibility Law.
(d) "Sexual orientation" has the meaning ascribed to it in
paragraph (O-1) of Section 1-103 of the Illinois Human Rights
Act.
(Source: P.A. 102-235, eff. 1-1-22; 102-468, eff. 1-1-22;
102-813, eff. 5-13-22.)