The First Amendment, made applicable to the State’s through the Fourteenth Amendment, protects individual’s right to exercise free speech. In Thompson, the Court of Criminal Appeals reasoned that a photographer’s camera is equivalent to a painter’s paintbrush and the content should thus be regulated the same in the First Amendment context.
The Court of Criminal Appeals found that the statute prohibited content based material, thus the statute was reviewed under the strict scrutiny standard. Subsection (b)(1) was a sort of catch-all provision that violated all forms of photography and visual recording—even innocent ones.
If you were charged with improper photography or visual recording under Texas Penal Code § 21.15(b)(1), you may be eligible to have your case reversed and ultimately expunged from your record. If you were already convicted or placed on deferred adjudication, you would need an experience lawyer to file a writ of habeas corpus on your behalf. Please contact the Law Office of Dayna Jones to get your case evaluated.