Rhode Island General Laws

R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-59-2 (2026)

Stalking prohibited

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section RI-LEGwebserver.rilegislature.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

(a) Any person who: (1) harasses another person; or (2) willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows another person with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear of bodily injury, is guilty of the crime of stalking.

(b) Stalking shall be deemed a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than five (5) years, by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 9 cases, 1996–2015 · leading case: State v. Breen, 767 A.2d 50 (R.I. 2001).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

State v. Breen, 767 A.2d 50 (R.I. 2001). · cites it 15× “” The defendant subsequently was arrested and charged with stalking pursuant to G.L.1956 § 11-59-2. During the trial before a jury in May 1997, complainant was permitted to testify extensively about specific instances of defendant’s conduct that had resulted in his previous…”

State v. Stierhoff, 879 A.2d 425 (R.I. 2005). · cites it 16× “This case comes before us on the appeal of the defendant, Neil Stierhoff, from his conviction for misdemeanor stalking under G.L.1956 § 11-59-2, 1 following a jury-waived trial before a justice of the Superi- or Court.”

State v. Fonseca, 670 A.2d 1237 (R.I. 1996). · cites it 6× “1956 (1994 Reenactment) § 11-59-2 was unconstitutionally vague because it was “facially ambiguous.”

State v. Grayhurst, 852 A.2d 491 (R.I. 2004). · cites it 2× “General Laws 1956 § 11-59-2 provides: “(a) Any person who: (1) harasses another person; or (2) willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows another person with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear of bodily injury, is guilty of the crime of stalking.”

United States v. Stierhoff, 477 F. Supp. 2d 423 (D.R.I. 2007). · cites it 4× “Defendant was subsequently convicted in state court of misdemeanor stalking pursuant to R.I. Gen Laws § 11-59-2. See State v. Stierhoff, 879 A.”

Hackley v. State, 866 A.2d 906 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 2005). “1; R.I. Gen Laws § 11-59-2; S.C.Code Ann § 16-3-1070; S.”

United States v. Stierhoff, 500 F. Supp. 2d 55 (D.R.I. 2007). “GEN LAWS § 11-59-2. See State v. Stierhoff, 879 A.”

State v. Francis Kolsoi (R.I. 2015). · cites it 9× “Following a jury-waived trial before a justice of the Superior Court, the defendant, Francis Kolsoi, was convicted of five counts of stalking in violation of G.L. 1956 § 11-59-2. The trial justice imposed a sentence of probation on each count to run concurrently.”

State v. Breen, 673 A.2d 75 (R.I. 1996). “ORDER This case is here on the state’s appeal from a Superior Court judgment dismissing Information K3/94-542A which had charged defendant with a violation of the statute prohibiting “stalking” (§ 11-59-2). Since the issue of the constitutionality of this statute was before this…”

— R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-59-2(a)(2) — 1 case

State v. Francis Kolsoi (R.I. 2015). “Following a jury-waived trial before a justice of the Superior Court, the defendant, Francis Kolsoi, was convicted of five counts of stalking in violation of G.L. 1956 § 11-59-2. The trial justice imposed a sentence of probation on each count to run concurrently.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.