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The Bumble Bill: A Critical Analysis on Texas’s New Law Taking Indecent Exposure Regulations Online

St. Mary’s University

St. Mary’s Law Journal

Volume 52 Number 1, Article 6

4-2021

Ashley B. Huron

St. Mary’s University School of Law, J.D., 2021. The author would like to thank her family and friends, especially her parents Steven and Elida Huron, grandparents George and Elida Huron, and Cassandra Santos for their continued support and encouragement. Additionally, the author would like to thank the Volume 52 Board members of the St. Mary’s Law Journal for their diligence in editing this Comment, and Professor Bill Piatt, whose constitutional expertise helped analyze the topic.

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Recommended Citation

Ashley B. Huron, The Bumble Bill: A Critical Analysis on Texas’s New Law Taking Indecent Exposure Regulations Online, 52 ST. MARY’S L.J. 187 (2021). Available at: https://commons.stmarytx.edu/thestmaryslawjournal/vol52/iss1/6

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1. Contents

Contents

• I. Introduction
• II. Overview
  • A. Substantial Issues with Texas Penal Code Section 21.19
  • B. Not All Speech Is Free Speech—The Historical Trend of Regulating the First Amendment
    • 1.) Obscenity and Indecency Regulations Leading up to the 21st Century
    • 2.) The Growing Trend of Content-Based Regulations
      • a. Protecting Minors
      • b. Banning Revenge Porn
    • 3.) Where This Leaves Us
      • a. Gaps in Texas Law—the Need to Fill a Void in Online Sexual Advances
• III. Texas Penal Code Section 21.19 Will Be Declared Unconstitutional
  • A. Texas Penal Code Section 21.19 Is Facially Unconstitutional
    • 1.) Introduce the Language
    • 2.) Definition of “Person”
    • 3.) Any Person Engaging in Sexual Conduct
    • 4.) Person’s Intimate Parts Exposed
    • 5.) Defining “Request” and “Express Consent”
• IV. Underlying Issues
  • A. Enforceability of Texas Penal Code Section 21.19
    • 1.) Potential Claims of Mistake
    • 2.) Stigma Surrounding Receiving and Reporting Unsolicited Pictures
• V. Texas Penal Code Section 21.19 Fills the Gap for Digital Sexual Harassment
  • A. Texas Penal Code Section 21.19 Compared to Texas’s Harassment Law
    • 1.) Texas Penal Code Section 42.07
• VI. Conclusion