Mississippi
Mississippi
*See Legislative Updates for January
- March 2010
Miss. Code Ann.
97-3-107.
Stalking. (2010)
(1)
(a)
Any person who
purposefully engages in a course of conduct directed at a specific person, or
who makes a credible threat, and who knows or should know that the conduct
would cause a reasonable person to fear for his or her own safety, to fear for
the safety of another person, or to fear damage or destruction of his or her
property, is guilty of the crime of stalking.
(b)
A person who is
convicted of the crime of stalking under this section shall be punished by
imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one (1) year or by a fine of
not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by both such fine and
imprisonment.
(c)
Any person who is
convicted of a violation of this section when there is in effect at the time
of the commission of the offense a valid temporary restraining order, ex parte
protective order, protective order after hearing, court approved consent
agreement, or an injunction issued by a municipal, justice, county, circuit or
chancery court, federal or tribal court or by a foreign court of competent
jurisdiction * * * prohibiting the behavior described in this
section against the same party, shall be punished by imprisonment in the
county jail for not more than one (1) year and by a fine of not more than One
Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00).
(2)
(a)
A person who
commits acts that would constitute the crime of stalking as defined in this
section is guilty of the crime of aggravated stalking if any of the following
circumstances exist:
(i)
at least one (1)
of the actions constituting the offense involved the use or display of a
deadly weapon with the intent to place the victim of the stalking in
reasonable fear of death or great bodily injury to self or a third
person;
(ii)
Within the past
seven (7) years, the perpetrator has been previously convicted of stalking or
aggravated stalking under this section or a substantially similar law of
another state, political subdivision of another state, of the United States,
or of a federally recognized Indian tribe, whether against the same or another
victim; or
(iii)
At the time of
the offense, the perpetrator was a person required to register as a sex
offender pursuant to state, federal, military or tribal law and the victim was
under the age of eighteen (18) years.
(b)
Aggravated
stalking is a felony punishable as follows:
(i)
Except as
provided in subparagraph (ii), by imprisonment in the custody of the
Department of Corrections for not more than five (5) years and a fine of not
more than Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00).
(ii)
If, at the time
of the offense, the perpetrator was required to register as a sex offender
pursuant to state, federal, military or tribal law, and the victim was under
the age of eighteen (18) years, by imprisonment for not more than six (6)
years in the custody of the Department of Corrections and a fine of Four
Thousand Dollars ($4,000.00).
(3)
Upon conviction,
the sentencing court shall consider issuance of an order prohibiting the
perpetrator from any contact with the victim. The duration of any order
prohibiting contact with the victim shall be based upon the seriousness of the
facts before the court, the probability of future violations, and the safety
of the victim or another person.
(4)
Every conviction
of stalking or aggravated stalking may require as a condition of any suspended
sentence or sentence of probation that the defendant, at his own expense,
submit to psychiatric or psychological counseling or other such treatment or
behavioral modification program deemed appropriate by the
court.
(5)
In any
prosecution under this section, it shall not be a defense that the perpetrator
was not given actual notice that the course of conduct was unwanted or that
the perpetrator did not intend to cause the victim fear.
(6)
When
investigating allegations of a violation of this section, law enforcement
officers shall utilize the Uniform Offense Report prescribed by the Office of
the Attorney General in consultation with the sheriffs' and police chiefs'
associations. However, failure of law enforcement to utilize the Uniform
Offense Report shall in no way invalidate the crime charged under this
section.
(7)
For purposes of
venue, any violation of this section shall be considered to have been
committed in any county in which any single act was performed in furtherance
of a violation of this section. An electronic communication shall be
deemed to have been committed in any county from which the electronic
communication is generated or in which it is received.
(8)
For the purposes
of this section:
(a)
"Course of
conduct" means a pattern of conduct composed of a series of two (2) or more
acts over a period of time, however short, evidencing a continuity of purpose
and that would cause a reasonable person to fear for his or her own safety, to
fear for the safety of another person, or to fear damage or destruction of his
or her property. Such acts may include, but are not limited to, the
following or any combination thereof, whether done directly or
indirectly: (i) following or confronting the other person in a public
place or on private property against the other person's will; (ii) contacting
the other person by telephone or mail, or by electronic mail or communication
as defined in Section 97-45-1; or (iii) threatening or causing harm to the
other person or a third party.
(b)
Credible threat"
means a verbal or written threat to cause harm to a specific person or to
cause damage to property that would cause a reasonable person to fear for the
safety of that person or damage to the property.
(c)
"Reasonable
person" means a reasonable person in the victim's
circumstances.
(9)
The incarceration
of a person at the time the threat is made shall not be a bar to prosecution
under this section. Constitutionally protected activity is not
prohibited by this section.
Miss.
(1)
It is
unlawful for a person to:
(a)
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 other things of value from
any person.
(b)
Electronically mail or
electronically communicate to another repeatedly, whether or not conversation
ensues, for the purpose of threatening, terrifying or harassing any
person.
(c)
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 threaten, terrify or
harass.
(d)
Knowingly permit an electronic
communication device under the person's control to be used for any purpose
prohibited by this section.
(2)
Whoever commits the offense of
cyberstalking
shall be punished, upon conviction:
(a)
Except as provided herein, 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 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 this section or a
substantially similar law of another state, a political subdivision of another
state, or of the
(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.
If any person shall post, mail,
deliver, or drop a threatening letter or notice to another, whether such other
be named or indicated therein or not, with intent to terrorize or to
intimidate such other, he shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment
in the county jail not more than six months, or by fine not more than five
hundred dollars, or both.
(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, and threaten to inflict injury or physical harm to any
person or to his property;
(c)
To
make a telephone call, whether or not conversation ensues, without disclosing
his identity and with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any person at
the called number;
(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, during which conversation ensues, solely to
harass any person at the called number; or
(f)
Knowingly to permit a computer
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, such 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,
such 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,
such person shall be guilty of a felony and fined not more than Two Thousand
Dollars ($ 2,000.00) and/or imprisoned in the State Penitentiary 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 or language originates in case such call,
conversation or language originates in the State of
(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 cellular 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.
Any person who with lewd,
licentious or indecent intent secretly photographs, films, videotapes, records
or otherwise reproduces the image of another person without the permission of
such person when such a person is located in a place where a person would
intend to be in a state of undress and have a reasonable expectation of
privacy, including, but not limited to, private dwellings or any facility,
public or private, used as a restroom, bathroom, shower room, tanning booth,
locker room, fitting room, dressing room or bedroom shall be guilty of a
felony and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of Five Thousand
Dollars ($ 5,000.00) or by imprisonment of not more than five (5) years in the
custody of the Department of Corrections, or both.
Stalking Law information for this state was obtained from the National Center for Victims of Crime.
The information contained on this website is meant as informational only and should not be interpreted as professional legal advice. We make every effort to be sure that we have the most up to date content and learning resources available, but laws change constantly and this information may not represent the law currently in effect. Please consult with an attorney for professional legal advice.
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