R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-59-1

Definitions

Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case State v. Bryan (1996)

Most recently applied in Nicholson v. State (March 2012)

P.L. 1992, ch. 201, § 1; P.L. 1992, ch. 382, § 1; P.L. 1993, ch. 358, § 1; P.L. 1994, ch. 250, § 1; P.L. 2002, ch. 183, § 1.

How often courts cite this section

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.

For the purpose of this chapter:

(1) “Course of conduct” means a pattern of conduct composed of a series of acts over a period of time, evidencing a continuity of purpose. Constitutionally protected activity is not included within the meaning of “course of conduct.”

(2) “Harasses” means a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person with the intent to seriously alarm, annoy, or bother the person, and which serves no legitimate purpose. The course of conduct must be such as would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress, or be in fear of bodily injury.

Official source: Rhode Island General Assembly. Reproduced from public-domain Rhode Island statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.