By:  Wilson                                           H.B. No. 1202
       73R5622 GWK-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the punishment for obscenity offenses involving songs
    1-3  or poetry.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Section 43.23, Penal Code, is amended by amending
    1-6  Subsections (b) and (d) and by adding Subsections (h) and (i) to
    1-7  read as follows:
    1-8        (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (h) of this section, an
    1-9  <An> offense under Subsection (a) of this section is a felony of
   1-10  the third degree.
   1-11        (d)  Except as provided by Subsection (h) of this section, an
   1-12  <An> offense under Subsection (c) of this section is a Class A
   1-13  misdemeanor.
   1-14        (h)  An offense under Subsection (a) or (c) of this section
   1-15  is a Class C misdemeanor if the obscene material or performance is
   1-16  a word in a song or poem that is sung or spoken in a live
   1-17  performance or recording.
   1-18        (i)  In this section:
   1-19              (1)  "Live performance" means a recitation, rendering,
   1-20  or playing in an audible sequence of a series of:
   1-21                    (A)  images;
   1-22                    (B)  musical, spoken, or other sounds; or
   1-23                    (C)  a combination of images and sounds.
   1-24              (2)  "Recording" means a tangible medium on which
    2-1  sounds, images, or both are recorded or otherwise stored, including
    2-2  an  original phonograph record, disc, tape, audio or video
    2-3  cassette, wire, film, or other medium on which sounds, images, or
    2-4  both are or can be recorded or otherwise stored or a copy or
    2-5  reproduction that duplicates in whole or in part the original.
    2-6        SECTION 2.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (c) of this
    2-7  section, the change in law made by this Act applies only to an
    2-8  offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.  For
    2-9  purposes of this section, an offense is committed before the
   2-10  effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
   2-11  before that date.
   2-12        (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (c) of this section, an
   2-13  offense committed before the effective date of this Act is covered
   2-14  by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former
   2-15  law is continued in effect for this purpose.
   2-16        (c)  In a criminal action pending on or commenced on or after
   2-17  the effective date of this Act, for an offense committed before the
   2-18  effective date, the defendant, if adjudged guilty, shall be
   2-19  assessed punishment under this Act if he so elects by written
   2-20  motion filed with the trial court before the sentencing hearing
   2-21  begins.
   2-22        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
   2-23        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-24  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-25  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-26  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-27  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.