February 14, 2012, Introduced by Senators BOOHER, HOPGOOD, HUNTER, JONES, MARLEAU, WALKER, HANSEN and KOWALL and referred to the Committee on Government Operations.
A bill to amend 1931 PA 328, entitled
"The Michigan penal code,"
(MCL 750.1 to 750.568) by adding section 484.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 484. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a person
shall not knowingly and willfully deliver or convey, directly or
indirectly, to a public official or a member of his or her
immediate family by any means a communication containing a threat
with the intent to impede, intimidate, or interfere with the public
official while engaged in the performance of official duties of his
or her public office or with the intent to retaliate against the
public official on account of the performance of official duties of
his or her public office.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply unless the threat contains
specific facts indicative of a unique threat to the person or
immediate family of the officer, rather than a general threat of
harm.
(3) A person who violates subsection (1) is guilty of a crime
as follows:
(a) If the violation is a first offense, the person is guilty
of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 1
year or a fine of not more than $1,000.00, or both.
(b) If the violation is a second or subsequent offense, the
person is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not
more than 5 years or a fine of not more than $5,000.00, or both.
(4) This section does not prohibit a person from being charged
with, convicted of, or punished for any other violation of law
arising out of the same conduct as the violation of this section.
(5) As used in this section:
(a) "Immediate family" means a public official's spouse,
parent, sibling, child, grandchild, another person to whom the
public official stands in loco parentis, or any other individual
living in the public official's household and related to him or her
by blood or marriage.
(b) "Public official" means any of the following:
(i) The governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and
attorney general.
(ii) The appointed director of a state executive branch
principal department.
(iii) A member of the legislature of this state.
(iv) A justice or judge of the judiciary of this state.
(v) A person who was elected to an office listed in
subparagraph (i), (iii), or (iv) and who is not yet serving in the
office to which he or she was elected.
(c) "Threat" means any form of communication that would place
the public official or a member of his or her immediate family in
reasonable apprehension of immediate or future bodily harm.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act shall be known and may
be cited as the state officers intimidation act.