00                            HOUSE BILL NO. 261                                                                          
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 the person compels another to                                            
05 engage in conduct from which there is a legal right to abstain or abstain from conduct                                  
06 in which there is a legal right to engage, by means of instilling in the person who is                                  
07 compelled a fear that, if the demand is not complied with, the person who makes the                                     
08       demand or another may                                                                                             
09                 (1)  inflict physical injury on anyone, except under circumstances                                      
10       constituting robbery in any degree, or commit any other crime;                                                    
11                 (2)  accuse anyone of a crime;                                                                          
12                 (3)  expose confidential information or a secret, whether true or false,                                
13       tending to subject a person to hatred, contempt, or ridicule or to impair the person's                            
14       credit or business repute;                                                                                        
15                 (4)  take or withhold action as a public servant or cause a public servant                              

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