Minnesota Session Laws - 1987, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1987 

                        CHAPTER 307-S.F.No. 915 
           An act relating to crime; amending trespass law to 
          prohibit harassment on private property; prohibiting 
          following and pursuing with intent to harass, abuse, 
          or threaten; removing requirement that caller not 
          disclose identity for purposes of misdemeanor 
          harassing telephone calls; prohibiting intentional 
          harassment by delivering a letter or object; providing 
          penalties; amending Minnesota Statutes 1986, sections 
          609.02, by adding subdivisions; 609.605, subdivision 
          1; 609.746; 609.79, subdivision 1; and 609.795. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 609.02, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 12.  [HARASS.] As used in sections 609.605, 
subdivision 1, clause (13), 609.746, 609.79, and 609.795, 
"harass" means to interfere with another person so as to 
persecute or oppress that person. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 609.02, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 13.  [THREATEN.] As used in sections 609.605, 
subdivision 1, clause (13), 609.746, 609.79, and 609.795, 
"threaten" means to express a purpose or intent to injure the 
person, property, or rights of another by the commission of an 
unlawful act. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 609.605, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read:  
    Subdivision 1.  [MISDEMEANOR.] Whoever intentionally does 
any of the following is guilty of a misdemeanor: 
    (1) smokes in a building, area, or common carrier in which 
"no smoking" notices have been prominently posted, or when 
requested not to by the operator of the common carrier; or 
    (2) trespasses or permits animals under the actor's control 
to trespass upon a railroad track; or 
    (3) permits domestic animals or fowls under the actor's 
control to go upon the lands of another within a city; or 
    (4) interferes unlawfully with any monument, sign, or 
pointer erected or marked to designate a point of a boundary, 
line or a political subdivision, or of a tract of land; or 
    (5) trespasses upon the premises of another and, without 
claim of right, refuses to depart therefrom on demand of the 
lawful possessor thereof; or 
    (6) occupies or enters the dwelling of another, without 
claim of right or consent of the owner or the consent of one who 
has the right to give consent, except in an emergency 
situation.  As used in this clause, "dwelling" means the 
building or part of the building used by an individual as a 
place of residence on either a full-time or a part-time basis.  
The dwelling may be part of a multidwelling or multipurpose 
building, or a manufactured home as defined in section 168.011, 
subdivision 8; or 
    (7) enters the premises of another with intent to take or 
injure any fruit, fruit trees, or vegetables growing thereon 
without the permission of the owner or occupant; or 
    (8) refuses the request of the operator of a public 
conveyance to either pay the required fare or leave the 
conveyance; or 
    (9) takes any animal on a public conveyance without the 
consent of the operator; or 
    (10) without the permission of the owner, tampers with or 
gets into or upon a motor vehicle as defined in section 609.55, 
subdivision 1, or rides in or upon such motor vehicle knowing it 
was taken and is being driven by another without the permission 
of the owner; or 
    (11) enters or is found upon the premises of a public or 
private cemetery without authorization during hours the cemetery 
is posted as closed to the public; or 
    (12) without authorization of the adjutant general enters 
or is present upon the Camp Ripley military reservation; or 
    (13) returns to the property of another with the intent to 
harass, abuse, or threaten another, after being told to leave 
the property and not to return, if the actor has no claim of 
right to the property and no consent of one with authority to 
consent. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 609.746, is 
amended to read: 
    609.746 [INTERFERENCE WITH PRIVACY.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [SURREPTITIOUS INTRUSION.] Any A person who 
enters upon another's property and surreptitiously gazes, 
stares, or peeps in the window of a house or place of dwelling 
of another with intent to intrude upon or interfere with the 
privacy of a member of the household thereof is guilty of a 
misdemeanor.  
    Subd. 2.  [INTRUSION ON PRIVACY.] A person who, with the 
intent to harass, abuse, or threaten another, repeatedly follows 
or pursues another, after being told not to do so by the person 
being followed or pursued, is guilty of a misdemeanor. 
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 609.79, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
    Subdivision 1.  Whoever, 
    (1) By means of a telephone, 
    (a) Makes any comment, request, suggestion or proposal 
which is obscene, lewd, or lascivious, filthy or indecent, 
    (b) Repeatedly makes a telephone call calls, whether or not 
conversation ensues, without disclosing the caller's identity 
and with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any person 
at the called number, 
    (c) Makes or causes the telephone of another repeatedly or 
continuously to ring, with intent to harass any person at the 
called number, or 
    (2) Having control of a telephone, knowingly permits it to 
be used for any purpose prohibited by this section, shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor.  
    Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 609.795, is 
amended to read: 
    609.795 [OPENING SEALED LETTER, TELEGRAM, OR PACKAGE; 
OPENING; HARASSMENT.] 
    Whoever does either any of the following is guilty of a 
misdemeanor: 
    (1) Knowing that the actor does not have the consent of 
either the sender or the addressee, intentionally opens any 
sealed letter, telegram, or package addressed to another; or 
    (2) Knowing that a sealed letter, telegram, or package has 
been opened without the consent of either the sender or 
addressee, intentionally publishes any of the contents thereof; 
or 
    (3) With the intent to harass, abuse, or threaten, 
repeatedly uses the mails or delivers letters, telegrams, or 
packages. 
    Sec. 7.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    Sections 1 to 6 are effective August 1, 1987, and apply to 
crimes committed on or after that date. 
    Approved May 28, 1987