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HOUSE BILL NO. 261
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE - SECOND SESSION
BY REPRESENTATIVES EASTMAN, Carpenter, Kurka
Introduced: 1/18/22
Referred: State Affairs, Judiciary
A BILL
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
1 "An Act relating to coercion; and relating to interference with constitutional rights."
2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:
3 * Section 1. AS 11.41.530(a) is amended to read:
4 (a) A person commits the crime of coercion if the person compels another to
5 engage in conduct from which there is a legal right to abstain or abstain from conduct
6 in which there is a legal right to engage, by means of instilling in the person who is
7 compelled a fear that, if the demand is not complied with, the person who makes the
8 demand or another may
9 (1) inflict physical injury on anyone, except under circumstances
10 constituting robbery in any degree, or commit any other crime;
11 (2) accuse anyone of a crime;
12 (3) expose confidential information or a secret, whether true or false,
13 tending to subject a person to hatred, contempt, or ridicule or to impair the person's
14 credit or business repute;
15 (4) take or withhold action as a public servant or cause a public servant
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1 to take or withhold action;
2 (5) bring about or continue a strike, boycott, or other collective
3 unofficial action, if the property is not demanded or received for the benefit of the
4 group in whose interest the person making the threat or suggestion purports to act;
5 (6) testify or provide information or withhold testimony or information
6 with respect to a person's legal claim or defense;
7 (7) deprive anyone of a civil right.
8 * Sec. 2. AS 11.41.530 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
9 (d) It is not a defense to prosecution under (a)(7) of this section that the
10 defendant was a public official acting in good faith within the scope of the official's
11 employment.
12 * Sec. 3. AS 11.76.110(c) is amended to read:
13 (c) Interference with constitutional rights is a class C felony [A
14 MISDEMEANOR].
15 * Sec. 4. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to
16 read:
17 APPLICABILITY. AS 11.41.530(a), as amended by sec. 1 of this Act,
18 AS 11.41.530(d), enacted by sec. 2 of this Act, and AS 11.76.110(c), as amended by sec. 3 of
19 this Act, apply to offenses committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
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Statutes affected:
HB0261A, AM HB 261, introduced 01/07/2022: 11.41.530, 11.76.110