00                            HOUSE BILL NO. 212                                                                          
01 "An Act relating to coercion; and relating to interference with constitutional rights."                                 
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
03    * Section 1. AS 11.41.530(a) is amended to read:                                                                   
04 (a)  A person commits the crime of coercion if, under circumstances not                                                 
05 proscribed under AS 11.41.410 - 11.41.427, the person compels another to engage in                                      
06 conduct from which there is a legal right to abstain or abstain from conduct in which                                   
07 there is a legal right to engage, by means of instilling in the person who is compelled a                               
08 fear that, if the demand is not complied with, the person who makes the demand or                                       
09       another may                                                                                                       
10                 (1)  inflict physical injury on anyone, except under circumstances                                      
11       constituting robbery in any degree, or commit any other crime;                                                    
12                 (2)  accuse anyone of a crime;                                                                          
13                 (3)  expose confidential information or a secret, whether true or false,                                
14       tending to subject a person to hatred, contempt, or ridicule or to impair the person's                            
15       credit or business repute;                                                                                        

01                 (4)  take or withhold action as a public servant or cause a public servant                              
02       to take or withhold action;                                                                                       
03                 (5)  bring about or continue a strike, boycott, or other collective                                     
04       unofficial action, if the property is not demanded or received for the benefit of the                             
05       group in whose interest the person making the threat or suggestion purports to act;                               
06                 (6)  testify or provide information or withhold testimony or information                                
07       with respect to a person's legal claim or defense;                                                            
08                 (7)  deprive anyone of a civil right.                                                               
09    * Sec. 2. AS 11.41.530 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:                                              
10            (d)  It is not a defense to prosecution under (a)(7) of this section that the                                
11       defendant was a public official acting in good faith within the scope of the official's                           
12       employment.                                                                                                       
13    * Sec. 3. AS 11.76.110(c) is amended to read:                                                                      
14            (c)  Interference with constitutional rights is a class C felony [A                                      
15       MISDEMEANOR].                                                                                                     
16    * Sec. 4. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to                          
17 read:                                                                                                                   
18       APPLICABILITY. AS 11.41.530(a), as amended by sec. 1 of this Act,                                                 
19 AS 11.41.530(d), enacted by sec. 2 of this Act, and AS 11.76.110(c), as amended by sec. 3 of                            
20 this Act, apply to offenses committed on or after the effective date of this Act.