Harassment; impersonating another by use of a computer, penalty. (HB1547)

Introduced By

Del. Scott Taylor (R-Virginia Beach)

Progress

Introduced
Passed Committee
Passed House
Passed Senate
Signed by Governor
Became Law

Description

Harassment by computer; impersonating another; penalty. Provides that a person who uses a computer to communicate obscene, vulgar, profane, lewd, lascivious, or indecent language, make an obscene proposal, or threaten an illegal or immoral act with the intent to defraud any person is guilty of harassment by computer, a Class 1 misdemeanor. Under current law, in order to be guilty of harassment by computer, a person must have the intent to coerce, intimidate, or harass any person. The bill also provides that it is a Class 6 felony to commit harassment by computer if the person has assumed the identity of another living individual. Read the Bill »

Outcome

Bill Has Failed

History

DateAction
01/07/2015Committee
01/07/2015Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/14/15 15101886D
01/07/2015Impact statement from VCSC (HB1547)
01/07/2015Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
02/10/2015Left in Courts of Justice

Comments

Safer Virginia writes:

Not only should this be the case for citizens, it should also apply to law enforcement.

Sting operations can be expensive, are demanding on personnel, and generally offer limited relief from recurring crime and disorder problems...you need to assess these benefits (fostering a cooperative spirit between prosecutors and police) against the negative ethical and legal problems associated with sting operations, especially the finding that in some cases they increase crime, and in the long term, with some exceptions, generally do not reduce it.
United States. U S Department of Justice. Office of Community Oriented Policing Services,. Sting Operations. By Graeme R. Newman and Kelly Socia. Washington, DC: U S Department of Justice, 2007. Print. Problem-Oriented Guides for Police Response Guides Series Guide No. 6 www.cops.usdoj.gov ISBN: 1-932582-84-3.

One of the central findings in the overturned Internet sex sting conviction in the 2000 case of United States v. Mark Douglas Poehlman was that the law enforcement officer’s responses to Poehlman were “excessive” in their initiation and sexual explicitness (U.S. v. Poehlman 2000).
Wright, Richard Gordon. "Internet Sex Stings." Sex Offender Laws: Failed Policies, New Directions. New York: Springer Pub., 2009. 147-50. Print.

This move toward an inquisitorial system of justice, one in which one must prove one’s innocence, is not justified by a series of heinous, low-frequency offenses (Inciaridi, 2008, p. 129)
Wright, Richard Gordon. "Internet Sex Stings." Sex Offender Laws: Failed Policies, New Directions. New York: Springer Pub., 2009. 147-50. Print.

By demonizing sex offenders and repeating factually incorrect statistics about recidivism, treatment, offense histories, etc., proponents have created an uncontrollable enemy. This enemy, the would-be Internet child molester, can only be stopped by undercover cops.
Wright, Richard Gordon. "Internet Sex Stings." Sex Offender Laws: Failed Policies, New Directions. New York: Springer Pub., 2009. 147-50. Print.