By Wilson H.B. No. 185
75R1958 JMC-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), an [An] offense
1-9 under Subsection (a) is a state jail felony.
1-10 (d) Except as provided by Subsection (h), an [An] offense
1-11 under Subsection (c) is a Class A misdemeanor.
1-12 (h) An offense under Subsection (a) or (c) is a Class C
1-13 misdemeanor if the obscene material or performance is a word in a
1-14 song or poem that is sung or spoken in a live performance or
1-15 recording.
1-16 (i) In this section:
1-17 (1) "Live performance" means a recitation, rendering,
1-18 or playing in an audible sequence of a series of:
1-19 (A) images;
1-20 (B) musical, spoken, or other sounds; or
1-21 (C) a combination of images and sounds.
1-22 (2) "Recording" means a tangible medium on which
1-23 sounds, images, or both are recorded or otherwise stored, including
1-24 an original phonograph record, disc, tape, audio or video
2-1 cassette, wire, film, or other medium on which sounds, images, or
2-2 both are or can be recorded or otherwise stored or a copy or
2-3 reproduction that duplicates in whole or in part the original.
2-4 SECTION 2. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (c) of this
2-5 section, the change in law made by this Act applies only to an
2-6 offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. For
2-7 purposes of this section, an offense is committed before the
2-8 effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
2-9 before that date.
2-10 (b) Except as provided by Subsection (c) of this section, an
2-11 offense committed before the effective date of this Act is covered
2-12 by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former
2-13 law is continued in effect for this purpose.
2-14 (c) In a criminal action pending on or commenced on or after
2-15 the effective date of this Act, for an offense committed before the
2-16 effective date, the defendant, if adjudged guilty, shall be
2-17 assessed punishment under this Act if he so elects by written
2-18 motion filed with the trial court before the sentencing hearing
2-19 begins.
2-20 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
2-21 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.