S-3538.1  _______________________________________________

                         SENATE BILL 6358

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      56th Legislature     2000 Regular Session

By Senators Costa, McCaslin, Long, Heavey, Brown, Prentice, Sheahan, Fraser, McAuliffe, Kohl‑Welles, Rasmussen, Patterson, Spanel, B. Sheldon, Bauer, Winsley, Gardner and Oke

Read first time 01/14/2000.  Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

Prohibiting harassment through electronic communication.

    AN ACT Relating to harassment through electronic communication; and amending RCW 9.61.230.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

    Sec. 1.  RCW 9.61.230 and 1992 c 186 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:

    Every person who, with intent to harass, intimidate, torment or embarrass any other person, shall make a telephone call or send an electronic communication to such other person:

    (1) Using any lewd, lascivious, profane, indecent, or obscene words or language, or suggesting the commission of any lewd or lascivious act; or

    (2) Anonymously or repeatedly or at an extremely inconvenient hour, whether or not conversation ensues; or

    (3) Threatening to inflict injury on the person or property of the person called or any member of his or her family or household;

shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor, except that the person is guilty of a class C felony if either of the following applies:

    (a) That person has previously been convicted of any crime of harassment, as defined in RCW 9A.46.060, with the same victim or member of the victim's family or household or any person specifically named in a no-contact or no-harassment order in this or any other state; or

    (b) That person harasses another person under subsection (3) of this section by threatening to kill the person threatened or any other person.

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