B.C., In re

• Decision Date: 22 May 1997
• Docket Number: No. 80715,80715
• Parties: , 223 Ill.Dec. 919 In re B.C. et al., Minors (The People of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. B.C., et al., Appellees).
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

Page 1355

680 N.E.2d 1355

176 Ill.2d 536, 223 Ill.Dec. 919

In re B.C. et al., Minors (The People of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. B.C., et al., Appellees).

No. 80715.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

May 22, 1997.

[223 Ill.Dec. 920] [176 Ill.2d 537] Gerry R. Arnold, State's Attorneys App. Pros. Mt. Vernon, Fifth Judicial District, Jim Ryan, Attorney General, Criminal Appeals Div, Chicago, and State's Attorney Madison County, Edwardsville, for the People.

Richard A. Devine, State's Attorney Cook County, Crim. Appeals Div. and Alan J. Spellberg, Assistant State's Attorney, Chicago, for Citizens of Cook County.

State Appellate Defender Mt. Vernon, Fifth Judicial District and Rita Peterson, State Appellate Defender, Mt. Vernon, for B.C.

Ruth L. Lansner, Anti-Defamation League, Chicago, for Anti-Defamation League Amicus Curiae.

Clyde E. Murphy, Chicago, for Chicago Lawyers' Committee.

Gary Feinerman, Mayer, Brown & Platt and Jenner & Block, Chicago, for the American Jewess Congress.

Chief Justice FREEMAN, delivered the opinion of the court.

The question presented by this appeal is whether section 12-7.1(a) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (the hate crime statute) (720 ILCS 5/12-7.1(a) (West 1994)) requires that the victim of the offense be the individual, or of the group of individuals, whose actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, or national origin provided reason for the offense. We hold that section 12-7.1(a) does not impose such a requirement.

BACKGROUND

On January 8, 1995, the State filed petitions in the circuit court of Madison County charging respondents, B.C. and T.C., as delinquent minors (see 705 ILCS 405/1-1 et seq. (West 1994)) for committing the offense of disorderly conduct (see 720 ILCS 5/26-1 (West 1994)). On March 17, 1995, the State amended the petitions to charge respondents with delinquency for committing a hate crime under section 12-7.1(a) of the Criminal Code. The petitions essentially alleged that, on October 14, 1994, in Madison County, respondents knowingly committed disorderly conduct (720 ILCS 5/26-1 (West 1994)) by displaying "patently offensive depictions of violence toward African Americans in such an unreasonable manner as to alarm and disturb James Jeffries and provoke a breach of the peace in violation of 720 ILCS 5/12-7.1 * * * and against the dignity of the People of the State of Illinois * * *."

At the adjudication hearing, the parties stipulated that Jeffries was not an African-American, nor did the defendants perceive him to be, but that other unnamed individuals who were African-Americans were present at the time the offense was allegedly committed. Also, such unnamed individuals were not identified in the petitions as victims. It was also stipulated that the allegedly patently offensive depictions of violence toward African-Americans were confiscated from the respondents. The depictions were subsequently admitted without objection.

In response to respondents' motion to dismiss the charges (725 ILCS 5/114-1(a)(8) (West 1994)), and based on the factual stipulations, the circuit court dismissed the petitions for failure to state an offense. The court found that the charges could not be sustained because Jeffries was not actually and was not perceived to be, by defendants, a member of "the protected classifications" and that such was a necessary element of the offense of hate crime. The State appealed the dismissals. 134 Ill.2d R. 604(a)(1).

On review, the appellate court reasoned that if the victim of a hate crime was not, or at least thought to be, a member of "the targeted group," under the statute, the word "perceived" within the provision would be superfluous. Finding also the statute to be ambiguous, the appellate court interpreted legislative debate to indicate an intent that the word "perceived" encompass situations where a victim is considered of a particular race by an accused, but is actually not. The appellate court affirmed the dismissal of the petitions because Jeffries was not, and was not perceived to be, African-American. 277 Ill.App.3d 1085, 214 Ill.Dec. 703, 661 N.E.2d 1148. The appellate court, in effect, held that under the Act, the alleged victim must be or be perceived, by an accused, a member of one of the classes named in the statute.

We subsequently granted the State's petition for leave to appeal (155 Ill.2d R. 315(b)) and now reverse and remand to the circuit court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

SECTION 12-7.1

In 1983, section 12-7.1 was added to the Criminal Code of 1961 (Pub. Act 82-995, § 1, eff. January 1, 1983) and provided in pertinent part:

"Ethnic intimidation. (a) A person commits ethnic intimidation when, by reason of the race, color, creed, religion or national origin of another individual or group of individuals, he commits assault, criminal trespass to residence, criminal trespass to real property or mob action as these crimes are defined in * * * this Code, respectively.

(b) Ethnic intimidation is a Class A misdemeanor; provided, however, that any person who commits ethnic intimidation as a participant in a mob action, as defined in Section 25-1 of this Code, which results in the violent infliction of injury to the person or property of another shall be guilty of a Class 3 felony." Ill.Rev.Stat.1989, ch. 38, pars. 12-7.1(a), (b).

Section 12-7.1 was based on model hate crime legislation proposed to the states by the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith. See C. Gaumer, Punishment For Prejudice: A Commentary on the Constitutionality and Utility of State Statutory Responses to the Problem of Hate Crimes, 39 S.D.L.Rev. 1, 9 (1994).

In 1991 and 1992, the legislature amended section 12-7.1 by changing the name of the offense from "Ethnic intimidation" to "Hate crime" and by increasing the number of classes, by reason of which the hate crime occurred, and the number of predicate criminal offenses which might constitute a hate crime. Pub. Act 86-1418, eff. January 1, 1991 (amending Ill.Rev.Stat.1989, ch. 38, par. 12-7.1); Pub. Act 87-440, eff. January 1, 1992 (amending Ill.Rev.Stat.1991, ch. 38, par. 12-7.1). Thus, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, and physical and mental disability were added to the statute as bases; and battery, aggravated assault, misdemeanor theft, misdemeanor damage to property, and criminal trespass to vehicle were also added. The increased penalty language of subparagraph (b) pertaining to commission of the offense as a participant in a mob action was also eliminated. Pub. Act 86-1418, eff. January 1, 1991 (amending Ill.Rev.Stat.1989, ch. 38, par. 12-7.1).

In 1993, disorderly conduct and telephone harassment were added as predicate offenses. Pub. Act 87-1048, eff. January 1, 1993 (amending 720 ILCS 5/12-7.1(a) (West 1992)). In 1994, the words "actual or perceived" were also inserted immediately before the group of classes by reason of which the hate crime occurred. Pub. Act 88-659, § 3, eff. September 16, 1994 (amending 720 ILCS 5/12-7.1(a) (West 1992)). Thus, at the time of the instant offense, in October 1994, sections 12-7.1(a) and (b) provided:

"Hate crime.

(a) A person commits hate crime when, by reason of the actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, or national origin of another individual or group of individuals, he commits assault, battery, aggravated assault, misdemeanor or theft, criminal trespass to residence, misdemeanor criminal damage to property, criminal trespass to vehicle, criminal trespass to real property, mob action or disorderly conduct as these crimes are defined in Sections 12-1, 12-2, 12-3, 16-1, 19-4, 21-1, 21-2, 21-3, 25-1, and 26-1 of this Code, respectively or harassment by telephone as defined in Section 1-1 of the Obscene Phone Call Act.

(b) Hate crime is a Class 4 felony for a first offense and a Class 2 felony for a second or subsequent offense." (Emphasis added.) 720 ILCS 5/12-7.1(a), (b) (West 1994).

ANALYSIS

The State claims that the courts below erred by incorrectly interpreting section 12-7.1(a) to require that the victim or complainant be or be perceived to be of one of the classes enumerated in the statute.

The State first argues that the plain language of the hate crime statute indicates a legislative intent that the focus of the provision be upon the accused's motive and conduct, and not upon the status or the perceived status of any victim or victims. Further, according to the State, the provision includes no language which directs or suggests that an accused's bias-motivated actions must be directed against even a particular victim in order for a hate crime to occur. The State claims that by inclusion of the phrase "actual or perceived," the legislature intended that a trier of fact focus not on the victim's status, but rather on the defendant's motivation which caused him to commit one of the predicate offenses listed by the statute.

Respondents maintain that a person cannot be a "victim" of a hate crime when the offender's improper bias in committing the underlying crime is not directed against that individual or the class to which he belongs. Thus, as applied to this case, James Jeffries cannot be the victim of a hate crime because the racially offensive materials were not directed against either him or his race.

The primary rule of statutory construction is to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the legislature, and that inquiry appropriately begins with the language of the statute. People v. Hare, 119 Ill.2d 441, 447, 116 Ill.Dec. 664, 519 N.E.2d 879 (1988). Where the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous, it will be given effect without resort to other aids for construction. Eagan v. Chicago Transit Authority, 158 Ill.2d 527, 199 Ill.Dec. 739, 634 N.E.2d 1093 (1994). However, where the meaning of a statute is unclear from the...