Maine Cyberstalking Bill to be Signed
June 17, 2001
Maine will become the 30th state with a cyberstalking law when Governor Angus King signs Bill LD 749, An Act to Prohibit Cyberstalking, into law on Monday, June 18th at 2 p.m. in Room 236 of the Capitol building in Augusta, Maine. The bill amends the crime of stalking to include communicating by electronic means with a person with the intent to harass, annoy or alarm that person.
The bill was co-authored by Jayne Hitchcock, Maine native and president of WHOA (Working to Halt Online Abuse), and Detective David Gordon of the Kennebunk Police Department. Both Hitchcock and Gordon will be present at the signing. The bill was introduced by Rep. David Lemoine and co-sponsored by Senators McAlevey, Pendelton, Rand and Representatives Laverdiere, Mitchell, O'Brien and Sullivan.
Detective Gordon is glad the bill passed. "Before this, we had to try to find other ways to end the stalking and harassment. It was difficult at best, and frustrating for online victims. The Maine Cyberstalking Law will apply in many cases we work on and will definitely make it easier to prosecute and do something," he said.
Representative Lemoine agreed. "Stalking is a dangerous power play that perpetrators use to haunt their victims. A civilized society must step up to defend against this type of offense, regardless of the technology being used by the perpetrator," he said. "However, the courage of a victim to come before the Legislature and speak out publicly on the matter was the decisive point in passing the bill."
Hitchcock became active in fighting cyberstalking after she was a victim. "Let's hope the rest of the states without a law pass one so that every state provides protection and recourse for victims. It will also help law enforcement when cases involve two states - the victim in one, the harasser in another - they'll be able to work together better if there is an applicable law in both states."
Hitchcock has worked on getting bills passed in other states before working on the Maine bill, starting with Maryland, which passed the first online harassment-related law in the country. She is president of WHOA, an organization dedicated to stopping cyberstalking. To accomplish its mission, WHOA educates the Internet community about online harassment, empowers victims of harassment and formulates voluntary policies that systems' administrators can adopt in order to create harassment-free environments. WHOA's web site is http://www.haltabuse.org/.
For more information, contact Hitchcock at 561-828-2801 or via email, Gordon at 207-985-6121, Representative Lemoine at 207-934-2170 or Governor King at 207-287-3531.
