By Thompson H.B. No. 2836
75R2930 DAK-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to providing individuals remedies for and protections
1-3 against certain hateful acts; providing a penalty.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Title 6, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Chapter 140 to read as follows:
1-7 CHAPTER 140. REMEDIES FOR AND PROTECTIONS
1-8 AGAINST HATEFUL ACTS
1-9 Sec. 140.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-10 (1) "Claimant" means a party seeking the relief
1-11 provided by this chapter, including a plaintiff, counterclaimant,
1-12 cross-claimant, or third-party plaintiff.
1-13 (2) "Defendant" includes any party from whom a
1-14 claimant seeks relief under this chapter.
1-15 Sec. 140.002. RIGHT TO BE FREE FROM HATEFUL ACTS. An
1-16 individual in this state has the right to be free from an act of
1-17 violence, or intimidation by threat of violence, committed against
1-18 the person or property of the individual because:
1-19 (1) of the individual's race, color, religion,
1-20 ancestry, national origin, political affiliation, sex, sexual
1-21 orientation, age, or disability; or
1-22 (2) another person perceives the individual to have
1-23 one or more of the characteristics listed under Subdivision (1).
1-24 Sec. 140.003. ACTION BY INDIVIDUAL. (a) An individual
2-1 whose exercise or enjoyment of the right secured by Section 140.002
2-2 is interfered with by a person, whether or not acting under color
2-3 of law, by threat, intimidation, or coercion, or by an attempt to
2-4 interfere by threat, intimidation, or coercion may commence, in the
2-5 individual's own name, an action for:
2-6 (1) damages to the individual arising from the actions
2-7 of the defendant in violating the peaceable exercise or enjoyment
2-8 by the individual of the right secured by Section 140.002;
2-9 (2) exemplary damages as provided under Chapter 41;
2-10 and
2-11 (3) injunctive relief or any other appropriate relief
2-12 to protect the peaceable exercise or enjoyment of the right secured
2-13 by Section 140.002.
2-14 (b) A court shall award a claimant who prevails in an action
2-15 under this chapter reasonable attorney's fees incurred in bringing
2-16 the action.
2-17 Sec. 140.004. ACTION BY STATE OR LOCAL ATTORNEY. The
2-18 attorney general, a district attorney, a criminal district
2-19 attorney, a county attorney, or a municipal attorney may bring an
2-20 action for injunctive relief or other appropriate relief, including
2-21 attorney's fees, to protect the peaceable exercise or enjoyment by
2-22 an individual of the right secured by Section 140.002.
2-23 Sec. 140.005. CONTENT OF SPEECH. (a) An action under this
2-24 chapter may not be based solely on the contents of the speech of
2-25 the defendant unless it is shown that:
2-26 (1) the speech itself threatens violence against a
2-27 specific individual or group of individuals;
3-1 (2) the individual or group against whom the threat is
3-2 directed reasonably fears that, because of the contents of the
3-3 speech, violence will be committed against the individual or the
3-4 group or the property of the individual or group; and
3-5 (3) the defendant threatening violence had the
3-6 apparent ability to carry out the threat.
3-7 (b) A court may not issue an order under this chapter that
3-8 restricts the content of any defendant's speech.
3-9 (c) The court may issue an order that restricts the time,
3-10 place, or manner of the defendant's speech only to the extent:
3-11 (1) reasonably necessary to protect the peaceable
3-12 exercise or enjoyment by an individual of the right secured by
3-13 Section 140.002; and
3-14 (2) consistent with the constitutional rights of the
3-15 defendant.
3-16 Sec. 140.006. FORUM. An action under this section may be
3-17 brought in a district or county court.
3-18 Sec. 140.007. ENFORCEMENT. An order issued under this
3-19 chapter is enforceable by contempt, prosecution under Section
3-20 22.11, Penal Code, or both.
3-21 Sec. 140.008. WARNING. An order for temporary or permanent
3-22 relief under this chapter must include the following statement:
3-23 "A VIOLATION OF THIS ORDER BY COMMISSION OF AN ACT PROHIBITED BY
3-24 THIS ORDER MAY BE PUNISHABLE BY A FINE OF AS MUCH AS $4,000 OR BY
3-25 CONFINEMENT IN JAIL FOR AS LONG AS ONE YEAR, OR BOTH."
3-26 Sec. 140.009. NOTIFICATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. (a)
3-27 A court that issues an order for temporary or permanent relief
4-1 under this chapter shall order the claimant or the attorney for the
4-2 claimant to deliver, or the clerk of the court to mail, two copies
4-3 of the order before the end of the day on which the order was
4-4 granted to:
4-5 (1) each local law enforcement agency designated by
4-6 the claimant or the attorney for the claimant as having
4-7 jurisdiction over the residence of the claimant; and
4-8 (2) any other location in which the court determines
4-9 that hateful acts against the claimant are likely to occur.
4-10 (b) A law enforcement agency that receives an order under
4-11 this section shall:
4-12 (1) serve a copy on the defendant; and
4-13 (2) provide to any law enforcement officer responding
4-14 to the scene of a reported hateful act against the claimant
4-15 information relating to the existence of, terms of, and current
4-16 status of the order.
4-17 (c) In this section, "order" includes any extension,
4-18 modification, or termination of the order.
4-19 Sec. 140.010. INDEPENDENT REMEDY. An action under this
4-20 chapter is independent of any other remedy or procedure that may be
4-21 available to the claimant.
4-22 SECTION 2. Chapter 22, Penal Code, is amended by adding
4-23 Section 22.11 to read as follows:
4-24 Sec. 22.11. VIOLATION OF ORDER ENJOINING HATEFUL ACTS. (a)
4-25 A person commits an offense if, in violation of an order for
4-26 temporary or permanent injunctive relief issued under Chapter 140,
4-27 Civil Practice and Remedies Code, the person knowingly violates the
5-1 order.
5-2 (b) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor
5-3 unless it is shown on the trial of the offense that the defendant
5-4 has previously been convicted under this section two or more times,
5-5 in which event the offense is a Class A misdemeanor.
5-6 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
5-7 applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after that
5-8 date. An action that accrued before the effective date of this Act
5-9 is governed by the law applicable to the action immediately before
5-10 the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect
5-11 for that purpose.
5-12 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
5-13 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-14 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-15 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-16 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.