Bill Text: TX HB1870 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to prohibiting certain conduct intended to intimidate or interfere with a person seeking or providing health care services or attending an established place of religious worship; increasing a criminal penalty.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-05 - Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence [HB1870 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB1870-Introduced.html
86R9561 JSC-D | ||
By: Rosenthal | H.B. No. 1870 |
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relating to prohibiting certain conduct intended to intimidate or | ||
interfere with a person seeking or providing health care services | ||
or attending an established place of religious worship; increasing | ||
a criminal penalty. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 42.01(d), Penal Code, is amended to read | ||
as follows: | ||
(d) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor, | ||
except that the offense is a Class B misdemeanor if the offense was | ||
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(1) under Subsection (a)(7) or (a)(8); or | ||
(2) under Subsection (a)(4), if the actor engaged in | ||
the prohibited conduct with the intent to intimidate or interfere | ||
with a person seeking or providing health care services or | ||
attending an established place of religious worship[ |
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SECTION 2. Section 42.04, Penal Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read | ||
as follows: | ||
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (d), if [ |
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that would otherwise violate Section 42.01(a)(5) (Unreasonable | ||
Noise), 42.03 (Obstructing Passageway), or 42.055 (Funeral Service | ||
Disruptions) 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 his | ||
arrest if he has not yet intentionally harmed the interests of | ||
others which those sections seek to protect. | ||
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), it [ |
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defense to prosecution under Section 42.01(a)(5), 42.03, or 42.055: | ||
(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. | ||
(d) An order under Subsection (a) is not required, and the | ||
defense provided under Subsection (c) does not apply, in the | ||
prosecution of an offense under Section 42.03 if the actor engaged | ||
in the prohibited conduct with respect to the entry of a health care | ||
facility or established place of religious worship and with the | ||
intent to intimidate or interfere with a person seeking or | ||
providing health care services at the facility or attending the | ||
place of worship, as applicable. | ||
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only to | ||
an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An | ||
offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed | ||
by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the | ||
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of | ||
this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of | ||
this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |