CIV PRO-GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB5078

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Full Text of HB5078

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HB5078 - 104th General Assembly

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House Amendment 001

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HB5078 Engrossed
LRB104 18205 JRC 31644 b
1

AN ACT concerning civil law.

2

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3
represented in the General Assembly:

4

Section 1.
References to Act.
This Act may be referred to
5
as the Protect Survivors Reporting Act.

6

Section 5.
The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by
7
adding Article XXIV as follows:

8

(735 ILCS 5/Art. XXIV heading new)
9
ARTICLE XXIV.

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

10

(735 ILCS 5/24-105 new)
11

Sec. 24-105.
Declaration of public policy.
Gender-based
12
violence is a pervasive societal problem, and only a small
13
percentage of incidents are reported, and of those reported an
14
even smaller percentage lead to an arrest or conviction.
15
Survivors of gender-based violence are often silenced by fear
16
of retaliation, including the threat of being sued for
17
defamation, slander, libel, harassment, or other claims
18
related to speaking out. The fear of such lawsuits deters
19
survivors from reporting and allows perpetrators to avoid the
20
consequences of their actions. The use of the legal system to
21
silence survivors has a corrosive effect on survivors and does

HB5078 Engrossed
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LRB104 18205 JRC 31644 b
1
not serve the public good. The General Assembly recognizes
2
that reporting gender-based violence is a right protected by
3
the Illinois Constitution and the United States Constitution.

4

(735 ILCS 5/24-110 new)
5

Sec. 24-110.
Definitions.
In this Article:
6

"Claim" means any lawsuit, action, claim, crossclaim,
7
counterclaim, or other judicial pleading or filing alleging
8
injury.
9

"Gender-based violence" means one or more acts of
10
violence, aggression, or abuse satisfying the elements of any
11
criminal or civil offense under the laws of this State that are
12
committed, at least in part, on the basis of a person's actual
13
or perceived sex or gender, regardless of whether the acts
14
were reported to law enforcement or resulted in legal action,
15
including, but not limited to, any act of domestic abuse as
16
defined in the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986, dating
17
violence, human trafficking, sexual assault, sexual abuse,
18
sexual harassment, or stalking.
19

"Motion" includes any motion to dismiss, for summary
20
judgment, or to strike, or any other judicial pleading filed
21
to dispose of a judicial claim.
22

"Moving party" means any person on whose behalf a motion
23
described in Section 24-115 is filed seeking dismissal of a
24
claim.

25

"Person" includes any individual, corporation,

HB5078 Engrossed
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LRB104 18205 JRC 31644 b
1
association, organization, partnership, 2 or more persons
2
having a joint or common interest, or other legal entity.
3

"Reporting gender-based violence" includes making a
4
disclosure of gender-based violence to authorities, an
5
employer, an educational institution, a public entity, or
6
nonprofit agency, to the press or media or at a public forum,
7
in print, electronically, or via social media, or to another
8
person verbally, in writing, or via electronic means.
9

"Responding party" means any person against whom a motion
10
described in Section 24-115 is filed.

11

(735 ILCS 5/24-115 new)
12

Sec. 24-115.
Applicability.
This Article applies to any
13
motion to dispose of a claim that is based on, relates to, or
14
is in response to the moving party's reporting gender-based
15
violence. This includes, but is not limited to, claims
16
alleging defamation, slander, libel, harassment, and actions
17
arising out of the alleged perpetrator of gender-based
18
violence being publicly named. If a court finds that the civil
19
action is based on the moving party reporting gender-based
20
violence, it shall grant a motion to dismiss the claim unless
21
it finds that the responding party has established by a
22
preponderance of the evidence that the moving party's
23
reporting gender-based violence was done with knowledge that
24
the report was false or with reckless disregard of whether it
25
was false or not.

HB5078 Engrossed
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LRB104 18205 JRC 31644 b
1

(735 ILCS 5/24-120 new)
2

Sec. 24-120.
Motion procedure and standards.
3

(a) On the filing of any motion as described in Section
4
24-115, a hearing and decision on the motion must occur within
5
90 days after notice of the motion is given to the responding
6
party. An appellate court shall expedite any appeal or other
7
writ, whether interlocutory or not, from a trial court order
8
denying that motion or from a trial court's failure to rule on
9
that motion within 90 days after that trial court's order or
10
failure to rule.
11

(b) Discovery shall be suspended pending a decision on the
12
motion. However, discovery may be taken, upon leave of court
13
for good cause shown, on the issue of whether the moving
14
party's report was made with knowledge that it was false or
15
with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.

16

(735 ILCS 5/24-125 new)
17

Sec. 24-125.
Attorney's fees, costs, and injunctive relief
18
on the motion.
The court shall award a moving party who
19
prevails in a motion under this Article reasonable attorney's
20
fees and costs incurred in connection with the motion, and
21
appropriate injunctive relief, if requested by the moving
22
party. The court may also award a moving party treble damages
23
for any harm caused to the moving party by the action against
24
them and punitive damages. This relief is only available to

HB5078 Engrossed
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LRB104 18205 JRC 31644 b
1
the moving party.

2

(735 ILCS 5/24-130 new)
3

Sec. 24-130.
Damages in the case.
In any case in which the
4
moving party filed a motion under this Article, but the claim
5
is not dismissed under Section 24-115, at the conclusion of
6
the case, a prevailing defendant is entitled to reasonable
7
attorney's fees and costs for successfully defending the
8
litigation, plus treble damages for any harm caused by the
9
action, punitive damages, appropriate injunctive relief if
10
requested by the defendant, or any other relief otherwise
11
permitted by law.

12

(735 ILCS 5/24-135 new)
13

Sec. 24-135.
Construction of Article.

14

(a) Nothing in this Article limits or precludes any rights
15
the moving party may have under any other constitutional,
16
statutory, case or common law, or rule provisions.
17

(b) This Article shall be construed liberally to
18
effectuate its purposes and intent fully.
19

(c) The motion created under this Article shall be
20
available in all actions pending or commenced on or after the
21
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 104th General
22
Assembly.

23

Section 97.
Severability.
The provisions of this Act are

HB5078 Engrossed
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LRB104 18205 JRC 31644 b
1
severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.

2

Section 99.
Effective date.
This Act takes effect upon
3
becoming law.

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