University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class Volume 17 | Issue 1 Article 8 An Old Crime in a New Context: Maryland’s Need for a Comprehensive Cyberstalking Statute Christie Chung Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/rrgc Recommended Citation Christie Chung, An Old Crime in a New Context: Maryland’s Need for a Comprehensive Cyberstalking Statute, 17 U. Md. L.J. Race Relig. Gender & Class 117 (2017). Available at: http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/rrgc/vol17/iss1/8 This Notes & Comments is brought to you for free and open access by the Academic Journals at DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Chung AN OLD CRIME IN A NEW CONTEXT: MARYLAND’S NEED FOR A COMPREHENSIVE CYBERSTALKING STATUTE Christie Chung* INTRODUCTION The Department of Justice defines stalking as a “pattern of repeated and unwanted attention, harassment, contact, or any other course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear.”1 Unlike a multitude of other crimes, stalking is unique in that it is a composite offense made up of a pattern of, oftentimes, varied behaviors.2 These behaviors include, but are by no means limited to: direct and indirect threats of harm, following or lying in wait for the victim at their home, place of work, and other frequented locales, and sending unwanted gifts and items.3 Although the first anti-stalking statute was not passed until 1990, rapid technological advances in the intervening decades have entirely redefined the scope of the offense.4 As a “borderless medium” that provides a veneer of anonymity, the internet has proven to be a fertile landscape of new opportunity for those looking to stalk, harass, or otherwise attack others.5 Cyberstalking, as a subset of computer- © 2017 Christie Chung * J.D.