| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the creation of the criminal offense of residential |
|
|
picketing. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Sections 42.04(a) and (c), Penal Code, are |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(a) If conduct that would otherwise violate Section |
|
|
42.01(a)(5) (Unreasonable Noise), 42.03 (Obstructing Passageway), |
|
|
[or] 42.055 (Funeral Service Disruptions), or 42.056 (Residential |
|
|
Picketing) consists of speech or other communication, of gathering |
|
|
with others to hear or observe such speech or communication, or of |
|
|
gathering with others to picket or otherwise express in a |
|
|
nonviolent manner a position on social, economic, political, or |
|
|
religious questions, the actor must be ordered to move, disperse, |
|
|
or otherwise remedy the violation prior to the actor's [his] arrest |
|
|
if the actor [he] has not yet intentionally harmed the interests of |
|
|
others which those sections seek to protect. |
|
|
(c) It is a defense to prosecution under Section |
|
|
42.01(a)(5), 42.03, [or] 42.055, or 42.056: |
|
|
(1) that in circumstances in which this section |
|
|
requires an order no order was given; |
|
|
(2) that an order, if given, was manifestly |
|
|
unreasonable in scope; or |
|
|
(3) that an order, if given, was promptly obeyed. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Chapter 42, Penal Code, is amended by adding |
|
|
Section 42.056 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 42.056. RESIDENTIAL PICKETING. (a) In this section: |
|
|
(1) "Dwelling" means any structure or part of a |
|
|
structure that is occupied as, or designed or intended for |
|
|
occupancy as, a residence by one or more individuals. |
|
|
(2) "Picketing" means: |
|
|
(A) standing, sitting, or repeated walking, |
|
|
riding, driving, or other similar action by a person displaying or |
|
|
carrying a banner, placard, or sign; |
|
|
(B) engaging in loud singing, chanting, |
|
|
whistling, or yelling, with or without noise amplification through |
|
|
a device such as a bullhorn or microphone; or |
|
|
(C) blocking access to a dwelling. |
|
|
(b) A person commits an offense if the person engages in |
|
|
picketing before or about the dwelling of any individual with the |
|
|
intent to harass or disturb the individual in the individual's |
|
|
dwelling. |
|
|
(c) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor. |
|
|
(d) If conduct constituting an offense under this section |
|
|
also constitutes an offense under another law, the actor may be |
|
|
prosecuted under this section, the other law, or both. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |