12.1-15 Defamation - Interception of Communications
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<![CDATA[CHAPTER 12.1-15DEFAMATION - INTERCEPTION OF COMMUNICATIONS12.1-15-01. Criminal defamation.1.A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if he willfully publishes defamatory<br>matter or knowingly procures such publication or in any way knowingly aids or<br>assists in the same being done.2.It is a defense to a prosecution under this section that:a.The matter alleged to be defamatory is true; orb.The matter alleged to be defamatory was contained in a privileged<br>communication.3.In this section:a."Defamatory matter" means any written or oral communication concerning a<br>natural person made public with actual malice or with reckless disregard of the<br>truth by any utterance, printing, writing, sign, picture, representation, or effigy<br>tending to expose such person to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule or to<br>deprive him of the benefits of public confidence and social intercourse or any<br>written or oral communication concerning a natural person made public as<br>aforesaid designed to blacken and vilify the memory of one who is dead and<br>tending to scandalize or provoke his surviving relatives and friends.b."Privileged communication" means a communication made to a person entitled<br>to or interested in the communication by one who is also entitled to or<br>interested or who stood in such relation to the former as to afford a reasonable<br>ground for supposing his motive innocent.c."Publication" means a knowing display of defamatory matter, or the parting with<br>its immediate custody under circumstances which exposed the defamatory<br>matter to be read or seen or understood by a person other than the publisher of<br>the defamatory matter, although it is not necessary that the matter complained<br>of should have been seen or read by another.12.1-15-02. Interception of wire or oral communications - Eavesdropping.1.A person is guilty of a class C felony if he:a.Intentionally intercepts any wire or oral communication by use of any electronic,<br>mechanical, or other device; orb.Intentionally discloses to any other person or intentionally uses the contents of<br>any wire or oral communication, knowing that the information was obtained<br>through the interception of a wire or oral communication.2.A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if he secretly loiters about any building<br>with intent to overhear discourse or conversation therein and to repeat or publish the<br>same with intent to vex, annoy, or injure others.3.It is a defense to a prosecution under subsection 1 that:a.The actor was authorized by law to intercept, disclose, or use, as the case may<br>be, the wire or oral communication.Page No. 1b.The actor was (1) a person acting under color of law to intercept a wire or oral<br>communication, and (2) he was a party to the communication or one of the<br>parties to the communication had given prior consent to such interception.c.(1) The actor was a party to the communication or one of the parties to the<br>communication had given prior consent to such interception, and (2) such<br>communication was not intercepted for the purpose of committing a crime or<br>other unlawful harm.12.1-15-03. Traffic in intercepting devices.1.A person is guilty of a class C felony if, within this state, he manufactures,<br>assembles, possesses, transports, or sells an electronic, mechanical, or other<br>device, knowing that the design of such device renders it primarily useful to the<br>purpose of the surreptitious interception of wire or oral communications.2.A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if he places, in a newspaper, magazine,<br>handbill, or other publication published in this state, an advertisement of an<br>electronic, mechanical, or other device, knowing that the design of such device<br>rendersitprimarilyusefulforsurreptitiousinterceptionofwireororalcommunications, or knowing that such advertisement promotes the use of such<br>device for surreptitious interception of wire or oral communications.3.It is a defense to a prosecution under this section that the actor was:a.An officer, agent, or employee of, or a person under contract with, a<br>communications common carrier, acting within the normal course of the<br>business of the communications common carrier; orb.A public servant acting in the course of his official duties or a person acting<br>within the scope of a government contract made by a person acting in the<br>course of his official duties.12.1-15-04. Definitions. In sections 12.1-15-02 through 12.1-15-04:1."Communications common carrier" shall have the meaning prescribed for the term<br>"common carrier" by section 8-07-01.2."Contents", when used with respect to any wire or oral communication, includes any<br>information concerning the identity of the parties to such communication or the<br>existence, substance, purport, or meaning of that communication.3."Electronic, mechanical, or other device" means any device or apparatus which can<br>be used to intercept a wire or oral communication other than:a.Any telephone or telegraph instrument, equipment, or facility, or any<br>componentthereof,(1)furnishedtothesubscriberoruserbyacommunications common carrier in the ordinary course of its business and<br>being used by the subscriber or user in the ordinary course of its business; or<br>(2) being used by a communications common carrier in the ordinary course of<br>its business, or by an investigative or law enforcement officer in the ordinary<br>course of his duties.b.A hearing aid or similar device being used to correct subnormal hearing to not<br>better than normal.4."Intercept" means the aural acquisition of the contents of any wire or oral<br>communication through the use of an electronic, mechanical, or other device, or by<br>secretly overhearing the communication.Page No. 25."Oral communication" means any oral communication uttered by a person exhibiting<br>an expectation that such communication is not subject to interception under<br>circumstances justifying such expectation.6."Wire communication" means any communication made in whole or in part through<br>the use of facilities for the transmission of communications by the aid of wire, cable,<br>or other like connection between the point of origin and the point of reception<br>furnished or operated by any person engaged as a common carrier in providing or<br>operating such facilities for the transmission of communications.12.1-15-05. Interception of correspondence.1.A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if, knowing that a letter, postal card, or<br>other written private correspondence has not yet been delivered to the person to<br>whom it is directed, and knowing that he does not have the consent of the sender or<br>receiver of the correspondence, he:a.Damages or destroys the correspondence with intent to prevent its delivery;b.Opens or reads sealed correspondence with intent to discover its contents; orc.Knowing that sealed correspondence has been opened or read in violation of<br>subdivision b, intentionally divulges its contents, in whole or in part, or a<br>summary of any portion thereof.12.1-15-06.Implanting microchips prohibited.A person may not require that anindividual have inserted into that individual's body a microchip containing a radio frequency<br>identification device. A violation of this section is a class A misdemeanor.Page No. 3Document Outlinechapter 12.1-15 defamation - interception of communications]]>