Like criminal mischief, disorderly conduct is a catch-all offense for a range of mischievous behaviors. Most disorderly conduct cases involve prosecution for fighting words – “abusive, indecent, profane or vulgar language in a public place, and by its very utterance, tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace.” Countless volumes have been written debating the distinction between free expression and fighting words. In Texas, this also extends to “fighting gestures.” It is similarly a crime to make an offensive gesture that tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace.
Disorderly conduct also includes creating unreasonable odors or noises in a public place, fighting with another in a public place, and abusing or threatening another person in a public place in an “obviously offense manner.” Peeping Toms (looking into a window or restroom or changing area) are also prosecuted under this section, as
he more serious instances of disorderly conduct are firearm related offenses. Discharging a firearm in a public place or displaying a firearm or deadly weapon in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm others are prosecuted as Class B