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Stalking Laws

NCJ Number
148297
Journal
State Legislative Report Volume: 17 Issue: 19 Dated: (October 1992) Pages: complete issue
Author(s)
D Hunzeker
Date Published
1992
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Twenty-eight States have enacted laws defining stalking as a criminal offense; stalking laws are pending in three other states.
Abstract
Other States have laws that are called something else but that apply to stalking situations. States typically have defined stalking as willful, malicious, and repeated following and harassing of another person. Most stalking laws require that the perpetrator make a credible threat of violence against the victim; in many States, a credible threat includes threats against the victim's immediate family. Many laws require that the victim have reasonable fear of death or great bodily injury. Many States have both misdemeanor and felony classifications of stalking. Some States passed laws to take immediate or emergency effect. The FBI Uniform Crime Reports indicate that in 1990, 30 percent of female murder victims in 1990 were killed by husbands or boyfriends. The broader issue of domestic violence and violence against women will require comprehensive State responses, of which stalking laws can be a part. Overall, improved public safety under stalking laws will depend on the extent to which the public and the criminal justice system regard domestic assault and violence against women as serious problems. Map and summaries of individual State laws