7.9: Legislative Immunities

Texas Government · LibreTexts

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    Learning Objectives

    By the end of this section you’ll be able to

    • Understand the speech and debate immunities granted Texas legislators
    • Understand the arrrest immunities granted Texas legislators

    Introduction

    The Texas Constitution grants two types of immunities to Texas steate legislators. One protects speech and debate. The other prevents or limits arrest during the legislative session.

    Speech and debate immunities

    The Texas Constitution (Article III, Section 21) grants Texas state legislators a fundamental protection of free speech and debate. This immunity protects legislators from punitive executive or judicial action. The intent is to allow lawmakers to work independently and unimpeded by the threat of intervention from the other branches of government in the discharge of their legislative duties.

    Arrest Immunities

    Texas state legislators are also protected from arrest traveling to and from and during legislative sessions. Exceptions include treason, felony, or breach of the peace.

    Contributors and Attributions

    CC licensed content, Original

    This page titled 7.9: Legislative Immunities was last modified on Sun, 22 Oct 2023 06:23:13 GMT and is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Lumen Learning.