Committee on Public Safety City Council Meeting February 19, 2020 Alderman Brendan Reilly
ORDINANCE
SECTION 1. Chapter 8-4 ofthe Municipal Code ofChicago is here by amended by adding Section 8-4-025, as follows:
8-4-025 Street Harassment Ordinance.
Definitions. For purposes of this Section:
"Public place" means any area to which the public is invited or permitted, including the public way, public buildings, public accommodations such as hotels, theaters, taverns, and restaurants, and common carriers such as trains, buses, and taxis.
"Street harassment" means conduct that serves no legitimate purpose which is directed at a specific person, and includes:
preventing such person from leaving the presence of the individual engaging in such conduct by following immediately behind, walking alongside, or blocking the path or passage of such person;
repeatedly making communications, after being advised, verbally or by gesture, by such person that further communication is unwelcome;
making insults, taunts, or challenges, which by their very utterance inflict injury or are likely to provoke an immediate violent response, even if such person does not react with violence, or that would cause the target of such conduct to reasonably believe that the individual engaging in such conduct intends to cause bodily injury to such person or another individual;
making a communication using offensively coarse language that would cause such person to reasonably believe that the individual engaging in such conduct intends to cause bodily injury to such person or another individual;
subjecting such person to offensive physical contact, or touching such person in a manner which a reasonable person would find offensive;
making any statement, gesture or other communication that a reasonable person would perceive as unwelcome explicitly or implicitly sexual language, including references to an individual's genitalia, pubic area, buttocks, or breast, or to sexual activities, solicitation of sex, or reference by word or action to such person as the object of sexual desire; and
engaging in conduct that would cause a reasonable person to be seriously alarmed, annoyed, tormented, or terrorized, and the conduct in fact seriously alarms, annoys, torments, or terrorizes such person.
"Street harassment" does not include any peaceful conduct or activity intended to express political or ideological views or provide public information to others.
Street Harassment. No person shall engage in the street harassment of a person within any public place.
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(c) Violation and penalty. Any person who violates any provision of this Section shall be subject to a fine of up to $100 for a first or second offense within a 12-month period, and a fine of $250 for a third or subsequent offense within a 12-month period. In addition to or instead of the above penalties, any person who violates this Section may be required to perform up to 120 hours of community service pursuant to Section 1-4-120 ofthis Code.