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.