Idaho committee backs bill to create civil cause of action for "indecent exhibitions" and adds school/performance exemptions

The Idaho House State Affairs Committee voted to send House Bill 230 to the floor with a “do pass” recommendation after testimony from lawmakers, interest groups and members of the public for and against the measure.

Representative Ted Hill, sponsor of H 230, told the committee the bill would create a duty of care for organizers, hosts and performers of what the text calls “indecent exhibitions,” and said the measure is intended as a time, place and manner regulation to restrict minors’ access to those performances.

Supporters described the proposal as a way to protect children from exposure to sexualized conduct at public events. Edward Clark, policy assistant at the Idaho Family Policy Center, told the committee the bill uses the Federal Communications Commission’s long‑standing indecency standard and contains two elements: that the performance include sexually explicit conduct and that it be “patently offensive” to contemporary community standards. Clark said the bill includes three drafting changes made after stakeholder…