Texas Attorney General Opinion: LO96-150 Page: 1 of 5
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@ffice of the attorney generall
state of texas
DAN MORALES December 23, 1996
ATTORNEY GENERAL
The Honorable George W. Bush Letter Opinion No. 96-150
Governor
State of Texas Re: Whether acts of private citizens demonstrating
Office of the Governor against drug dealers implicate certain sections of the Penal
P.O. Box 12428 Code (ID# 39178)
Austin Texas 78711
Dear Governor Bush:
You have asked this office two questions concerning the activities of a group called Turn
Around Texas, which stages marches and protests outside known drug-dealing locations in an effort
to discommode and if possible drive away peddlers of illegal narcotics.
Turn Around Texas, as you inform us, routinely receives information from police and other
local law enforcement authorities as to the location of known "crack houses"--places for the sale and,
sometimes, ingestion of cocaine and other illegal substances-and of the residences of known drug
dealers. The group then stages marches down the residential streets where the crack houses or the
homes of the pushers are located, and then, generally while under the supervision and protection of
local police, demonstrates outside these locations, sometimes vocally and noisily.
The group has expressed concerns about two Penal Code sections which it fears its activities
might be construed to violate-section 42.01, which prohibits disorderly conduct, and section 39.03,
which prohibits official oppression. Accordingly, you have inquired as to whether the group's
activities may implicate either of these statutes, and as to whether the fact that Turn Around Texas
is engaging in expressive conduct of the sort protected by the First Amendment provides the group
with a defense against criminal charges.
We first address your concerns regarding the offense of disorderly conduct. Because it would
require factual determinations of a sort we cannot make in the opinion process, we cannot say
whether a particular act by Turn Around Texas might constitute disorderly conduct. We can,
however, outline the elements of the offense for your guidance.
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: LO96-150, text, December 23, 1996; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth277183/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.