California
This page lists the most applicable state crimes addressing stalking. However, depending on the facts of the case, a stalker might also be charged with other crimes, such as trespassing, intimidation of a witness, breaking and entering, etc. Check your state code or consult with your local prosecutor about other charges that might apply in a particular case.
Cal Pen Code § 646.9. Stalking.
(2007)
(a) Any person who willfully,
maliciously, and repeatedly follows or willfully and maliciously harasses
another person and who makes a credible threat with the intent to place that
person in reasonable fear for his or her safety, or the safety of his or her
immediate family is guilty of the crime of stalking,
punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a
fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and
imprisonment, or by imprisonment in the state prison.
(b) Any person who violates
subdivision (a) when there is a temporary restraining order, injunction, or any
other court order in effect prohibiting the behavior described in subdivision
(a) against the same party, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state
prison for two, three, or four years.
(c) (1) Every person who, after
having been convicted of a felony under Section
273.5, 273.6, or 422, commits a
violation of subdivision (a) shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail
for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars
($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment, or by imprisonment in the state
prison for two, three, or five years.
(2) Every person who, after
having been convicted of a felony under
subdivision (a), commits a
violation of this section shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison
for two, three, or five years.
(d) In addition to the penalties
provided in this section, the sentencing court may order a person convicted of a
felony under this section to register as a sex offender pursuant to Section
290.006.
(e) For the purposes of this section,
"harasses" means engages in a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at
a specific person that seriously alarms, annoys, torments, or terrorizes the
person, and that serves no legitimate purpose.
(f)
For the
purposes of this section, "course of conduct" means two or more acts occurring
over a period of time, however short, evidencing a continuity of purpose.
Constitutionally protected activity is not included within the meaning of
"course of conduct."
(g) For the purposes of this section,
"credible threat" means a verbal or written threat, including that performed
through the use of an electronic communication device, or a threat implied by a
pattern of conduct or a combination of verbal, written, or electronically
communicated statements and conduct, made with the intent to place the person
that is the target of the threat in reasonable fear for his or her safety or the
safety of his or her family, and made with the apparent ability to carry out the
threat so as to cause the person who is the target of the threat to reasonably
fear for his or her safety or the safety of his or her family. It is not
necessary to prove that the defendant had the intent to actually carry out the
threat. The present incarceration of a person making the threat shall not be a
bar to prosecution under this section. Constitutionally protected activity is
not included within the meaning of "credible threat."
(h) For purposes of this section, the
term "electronic communication device" includes, but is not limited to,
telephones, cellular phones, computers, video recorders, fax machines, or
pagers. "Electronic communication" has the same meaning as the term defined in
Subsection 12 of Section 2510 of Title 18 of the United States Code.
(i)
This
section shall not apply to conduct that occurs during labor picketing.
(j)
If
probation is granted, or the execution or imposition of a sentence is suspended,
for any person convicted under this section, it shall be a condition of
probation that the person participate in counseling, as designated by the court.
However, the court, upon a showing of good cause, may find that the counseling
requirement shall not be imposed.
(k) (1) The sentencing court also
shall consider issuing an order restraining the
defendant from any contact with
the victim, that may be valid for up to 10 years, as determined by the court. It
is the intent of the Legislature that the length of any restraining order be
based upon the seriousness of the facts before the court, the probability of
future violations, and the safety of the victim and his or her immediate
family.
(2) This protective order may be
issued by the court whether the defendant is
sentenced to state prison, county
jail, or if imposition of sentence is suspended and the defendant is placed on
probation.
(l)
For
purposes of this section, "immediate family" means any spouse, parent, child,
any person related by consanguinity or affinity within the second degree, or any
other person who regularly resides in the household, or who, within the prior
six months, regularly resided in the household.
(m)
The court shall consider whether the defendant would benefit
from treatment pursuant to Section 2684. If it is determined to be appropriate,
the court shall recommend that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
make a certification as provided in Section 2684. Upon the certification, the
defendant shall be evaluated and transferred to the appropriate hospital for
treatment pursuant to Section 2684.
Cal Pen Code § 653.2 Use of electronic communication to instill
fear or to harass; Misdemeanor. (2008)
(a)
Every
person who, with intent to place another person in reasonable fear for his or
her safety, or the safety of the other person's immediate family, by means of an
electronic communication device, and without consent of the other person, and
for the purpose of imminently causing that other person unwanted physical
contact, injury, or harassment, by a third party, electronically distributes,
publishes, e-mails, hyperlinks, or makes available for downloading, personal
identifying information, including, but not limited to, a digital image of
another person, or an electronic message of a harassing nature about another
person, which would be likely to incite or produce that unlawful action, is
guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in the county jail, by a
fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and
imprisonment.
(b)
For
purposes of this section, the term "electronic communication device" includes,
but is not limited to, telephones, cell phones, computers, Internet Web pages or
sites, Internet phones, hybrid cellular/Internet/wireless devices, personal
digital assistants (PDAs), video recorders, fax machines, or pagers. "Electronic
communication" has the same meaning as the term is defined in Section 2510(12)
of Title 18 of the United States Code.
(c)
For
purposes of this section, the following terms apply:
(1)
"Harassment"
means a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person that
a reasonable person would consider as seriously alarming, seriously annoying,
seriously tormenting, or seriously terrorizing the person and that serves no
legitimate purpose.
(2)
"Of
a harassing nature" means information that a reasonable person would consider as
seriously alarming, seriously annoying, seriously tormenting, or seriously
terrorizing the person and that serves no legitimate purpose.
Cal Pen Code § 653m. Obscene, threatening, harassing, or annoying telephone
calls. (2008)
(a)
Every
person who, with intent to annoy, telephones or makes contact by means of an
electronic communication device with another and addresses to or about the other
person any obscene language or addresses to the other person any threat to
inflict injury to the person or property of the person addressed or any member
of his or her family, is guilty of a misdemeanor. Nothing in this subdivision
shall apply to telephone calls or electronic contacts made in good
faith.
(b)
Every
person who, with intent to annoy or harass, makes repeated telephone calls or
makes repeated contact by means of an electronic communication device, or makes
any combination of calls or contact, to another person is, whether or not
conversation ensues from making the telephone call or contact by means of an
electronic communication device, guilty of a misdemeanor. Nothing in this
subdivision shall apply to telephone calls or electronic contacts made in good
faith or during the ordinary course and scope of business.
(c)
Any
offense committed by use of a telephone may be deemed to have been committed
when and where the telephone call or calls were made or received. Any offense
committed by use of an electronic communication device or medium, including the
Internet, may be deemed to have been committed when and where the electronic
communication or communications were originally sent or first viewed by the
recipient.
(d)
Subdivision
(a) or (b) is violated when the person acting with intent to annoy makes a
telephone call or contact by means of an electronic communication device
requesting a return call and performs the acts prohibited under subdivision (a)
or (b) upon receiving the return call.
(e)
Subdivision
(a) or (b) is violated when a person knowingly permits any telephone or
electronic communication under the person's control to be used for the purposes
prohibited by those subdivisions.
(f)
If
probation is granted, or the execution or imposition of sentence is suspended,
for any person convicted under this section, the court may order as a condition
of probation that the person participate in counseling.
(g)
For
purposes of this section, the term "electronic communication device" includes,
but is not limited to, telephones, cellular phones, computers, video recorders,
facsimile machines, pagers, personal digital assistants, smartphones, and any
other device that transfers signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, or data.
"Electronic communication device" also includes, but is not limited to,
videophones, TTY/TDD devices, and all other devices used to aid or assist
communication to or from deaf or disabled persons. "Electronic communication"
has the same meaning as the term defined in Subsection 12 of Section 2510 of
Title 18 of the United States Code.
Cal Pen Code § 422. Punishment for threats. (1998)
Any
person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death or
great bodily injury to another person, with the specific intent that the
statement, made verbally, in writing, or by means of an electronic communication
device, is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no
intent of actually carrying it out, which, on its face and under the
circumstances in which it is made, is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate,
and specific as to convey to the person threatened, a gravity of purpose and an
immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes that
person reasonably to be in sustained fear for his or her own safety or for his
or her immediate family's safety, shall be punished by imprisonment in the
county jail not to exceed one year, or by imprisonment in the state
prison.
For the purposes of this section, "immediate family" means any
spouse, whether by marriage or not, parent, child, any person related by
consanguinity or affinity within the second degree, or any other person who
regularly resides in the household, or who, within the prior six months,
regularly resided in the household.
"Electronic communication device"
includes, but is not limited to, telephones, cellular telephones, computers,
video recorders, fax machines, or pagers. "Electronic communication" has the
same meaning as the term defined in Subsection 12 of Section 2510 of Title 18 of
the United States Code.