CRIM CD-HATE SYMBOLS

Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Creates the offense of using a hate symbol to intimidate or harass. Provides that a person commits the offense who without written authorization and with the intent to intimidate or harass any other person or group of persons based on religion, national origin, alienage, color, race, sex, sexual orientation, physical disability, or mental disability: (1) hangs or otherwise displays a hangman's noose or a simulation thereof on any public property or private property; (2) etches, paints, draws, or otherwise displays a Nazi swastika, commonly exhibited as the emblem of Nazi Germany or a simulation thereof; or (3) burns or desecrates a cross or other religious symbol knowing it to be a religious symbol on any public property or private property. Provides that a first offense is a Class 3 felony and a second or subsequent offense is a Class 2 felony.