Tex. Const. art. I, § 8 · Article 1. BILL OF RIGHTS

FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND PRESS; LIBEL.

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — Current through the amendments approved by voters in November 2025

Every person shall be at liberty to speak, write or publish his opinions on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that privilege; and no law shall ever be passed curtailing the liberty of speech or of the press. In prosecutions for the publication of papers, investigating the conduct of officers, or men in public capacity, or when the matter published is proper for public information, the truth thereof may be given in evidence. And in all indictments for libels, the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the facts, under the direction of the Court, as in other cases.

Notes and commentary — not constitutional text

History

(Feb. 15, 1876.)

Source of truth

Edition: Current through the amendments approved by voters in November 2025
Official file: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CN/htm/CN.1.htm
Text hash: sha256 5efdd299bc3ae8737790766da3806be8675f9e354ab90c359929c10cd7ffeb9e
Composed by: compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character

Cited by 8 provisions

Provisions in this library whose text cites Tex. Const. art. I, § 8. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.

Civil Practice and Remedies Code

Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 51.014APPEAL FROM INTERLOCUTORY ORDER.Printed as Article I, Section 8, of the Texas Constitution

Education Code

Health and Safety Code

Penal Code

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.