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N.Y. Penal Law § 120.45

Stalking in the fourth degree

Applied in 29 court decisions — leading case 26 F. Supp. 3d 230 - Corsini v. Bloomberg (2014)

Most recently applied in People v. Bland (LaMon) (May 2025)

2014-10-24

How often courts cite this section

20142020202570
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

§ 120.45 Stalking in the fourth degree.\n A person is guilty of stalking in the fourth degree when he or she\nintentionally, and for no legitimate purpose, engages in a course of\nconduct directed at a specific person, and knows or reasonably should\nknow that such conduct:\n 1. is likely to cause reasonable fear of material harm to the physical\nhealth, safety or property of such person, a member of such person's\nimmediate family or a third party with whom such person is acquainted;\nor\n 2. causes material harm to the mental or emotional health of such\nperson, where such conduct consists of following, telephoning or\ninitiating communication or contact with such person, a member of such\nperson's immediate family or a third party with whom such person is\nacquainted, and the actor was previously clearly informed to cease that\nconduct; or\n 3. is likely to cause such person to reasonably fear that his or her\nemployment, business or career is threatened, where such conduct\nconsists of appearing, telephoning or initiating communication or\ncontact at such person's place of employment or business, and the actor\nwas previously clearly informed to cease that conduct.\n For the purposes of subdivision two of this section, "following" shall\ninclude the unauthorized tracking of such person's movements or location\nthrough the use of a global positioning system or other device.\n Stalking in the fourth degree is a class B misdemeanor.\n

Official source: NYS Open Legislation (New York State Senate). Reproduced from public-domain New York statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.