| 1 | 1 | | By: Smith H.B. No. 2508 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 6 | | relating to Creating a Criminal Offense for the unlawful disclosure |
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| 7 | 7 | | of an autopsy photograph. |
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| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Article 49, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
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| 10 | 10 | | amended by adding Article 49.105 to read as follows: |
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| 11 | 11 | | Art. 49.105. UNLAWFUL DISCLOSURE OF AN AUTOPSY PHOTOGRAPH. |
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| 12 | 12 | | (a) In this section: |
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| 13 | 13 | | (1) "Photograph" means: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (A) any film, photograph, videotape, negative, |
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| 15 | 15 | | or slide or any photographic reproduction that contains or |
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| 16 | 16 | | incorporates in any manner any film, photograph, videotape, |
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| 17 | 17 | | negative, or slide; or |
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| 18 | 18 | | (B) any disk, diskette, or other physical medium |
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| 19 | 19 | | that allows an image to be displayed on a computer or other video |
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| 20 | 20 | | screen and any image transmitted to a computer or other video screen |
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| 21 | 21 | | by telephone line, cable, satellite transmission, or other method. |
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| 22 | 22 | | (b) A person commits an offense if: |
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| 23 | 23 | | (1) without the effective consent of the depicted |
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| 24 | 24 | | person or the legal representative of the depicted person, the |
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| 25 | 25 | | person discloses a photograph from an autopsy; |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2) the disclosure of the photograph reveals the |
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| 27 | 27 | | identity of the depicted person in any manner, including through: |
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| 28 | 28 | | (A) any accompanying or subsequent information |
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| 29 | 29 | | or material related to the photograph; or |
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| 30 | 30 | | (B) information or material provided by a third |
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| 31 | 31 | | party in response to the disclosure of the photograph. |
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| 32 | 32 | | (c) A person commits an offense if, knowing the character |
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| 33 | 33 | | and content of the photograph, the person promotes the photgraph |
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| 34 | 34 | | described by Subsection (b) on an Internet website or other forum |
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| 35 | 35 | | for publication that is owned or operated by the person. |
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| 36 | 36 | | (d) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under |
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| 37 | 37 | | Subsection (b) or (c) that: |
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| 38 | 38 | | (1) the disclosure or promotion is made in the course |
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| 39 | 39 | | of: |
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| 40 | 40 | | (A) reporting unlawful activity; or |
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| 41 | 41 | | (B) a legal proceeding, if the disclosure or |
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| 42 | 42 | | promotion is permitted or required by law; |
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| 43 | 43 | | (2) the actor is an interactive computer service, as |
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| 44 | 44 | | defined by 47 U.S.C. Section 230, and the disclosure or promotion |
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| 45 | 45 | | consists of visual material provided by another person. |
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| 46 | 46 | | (e) An offense under subsection (b)(1) or (b)(2)is a Class A |
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| 47 | 47 | | Misdemeanor. An offense under subsection (c) is a State Jail |
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| 48 | 48 | | Felony. |
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| 49 | 49 | | (f) If conduct that constitutes an offense under this |
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| 50 | 50 | | section also constitutes an offense under another law, the actor |
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| 51 | 51 | | may be prosecuted under this section, the other law, or both. |
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| 52 | 52 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 53 | 53 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 54 | 54 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 55 | 55 | | covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the |
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| 56 | 56 | | former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of |
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| 57 | 57 | | this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of |
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| 58 | 58 | | this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
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| 59 | 59 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |
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