It is a criminal offense to communicate with or threaten a person with the intent to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass the person. Criminal harassment may take many forms, and may be classified as the criminal offense of stalking, cyberbullying, or hate crimes—depending on the applicable state or federal law.

Laws vary from state to state, but a person generally commits a crime if, with the intent to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass another, the person:

• initiates communication and in the course of the communication makes a comment, request, suggestion, or proposal that is obscene;

• threatens to inflict bodily injury or to commit a felony against the person, a member of the person’s family or household, or the person’s property in a manner reasonably likely to alarm the person;

• communicates a false report (that the communicator knows is false) that another person has suffered death or serious bodily injury, and does so in a manner reasonably likely to alarm the person receiving the report;

• causes the telephone number of another person to ring repeatedly, or makes repeated telephone communications anonymously or in a manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, embarrass, or offend another;

• makes a telephone call and intentionally fails to hang up or disengage the connection;

• knowingly permits a telephone under the person’s control to be used by another to harass someone;

• sends repeated electronic communications in a manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, embarrass, or offend another person.

The offense of criminal harassment is different from sexual or other harassment that may occur in the workplace, for example, and that is prohibited by state and federal law. Harassment in the workplace generally incurs potential civil liability (money damages in a lawsuit) but not criminal charges—unless the conduct is sufficiently egregious to constitute criminal harassment.

In Minnesota, criminal harassment is addressed under Minnesota Statutes Section 609.748, which defines harassment as a single or repeated act that targets a specific person and causes them to feel oppressed, persecuted, or intimidated. The law covers various forms of harassment, including stalking, which can involve following someone, making repeated phone calls, or monitoring a person's actions. It is illegal to harass someone with the intent to injure, intimidate, interfere with, or oppress a person's privacy or security. The statute also includes provisions for restraining orders to protect victims from further harassment. Additionally, Minnesota recognizes cyberbullying as a form of harassment, which can be prosecuted under the same statute if it involves the use of electronic communication to harm or harass someone in a manner that would cause a reasonable person to feel frightened, threatened, oppressed, persecuted, or intimidated. Hate crimes, which are criminal offenses against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by bias, are addressed under Minnesota Statutes Section 609.2231 and can enhance the penalties for harassment if it is determined to be a bias-motivated crime. It is important to note that while workplace harassment can lead to civil liability, it may also constitute criminal harassment if it meets the legal criteria under Minnesota law.