Alabama House passes bill to make disrupting church services a felony

An Alabama bill aimed at making the disruption of church services a felony has passed the state House of Representatives.

Known as House Bill 363, the measure passed the lower chamber on Tuesday in a vote of 75-27 and will head to the Republican-controlled state Senate.

Under HB 363, a person “commits the crime of disruption of a worship service” if they “knowingly” enter a “church building with the intent to disrupt the worship service” and either “engages in an unlawful protest, riot, or disorderly conduct inside the church building” or “otherwise engages in harassment of any individual participant in the worship service; or obstructs the ingress or egress to the church building or church property.”

If an individual receives “a second or subsequent violation, the individual shall be guilty of a Class C felony and shall serve a mandatory minimum of five years imprisonment.”

The bill's passage comes after protesters made headlines last month by storming a Sunday service at a Cities Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Minnesota, to demand the resignation of a pastor who also serves as a federal immigration agent, drawing intense national debate and federal felony charges for some involved in the protest. 

Republican Rep. Greg Barnes, sponsor of the bill, said that the proposed legislation was “a religious protection bill that protects all religions, not just churches, synagogues, etc.”

“No one has the right to disrupt a church service and infringe on their fellow citizens’ right to worship freely,” Barnes said in a statement, as quoted by the Alabama Political Reporter, adding that the protest in Minnesota was "unacceptable and disgusting behavior" that won't be "tolerated" in Alabama.

“In Alabama, we are not going to sit by and allow crazy people to intimidate our women and children in our churches. We simply will not tolerate it.”

Democrat Rep. Sam Jones is among the critics of the Alabama legislation, claiming that making the disruption of worship services a felony is “overkill.”

“I think the absolute worst place that you could take away a person’s right to disagree is in the church. I don’t understand how you say that,” said Jones, as quoted by the Alabama Reflector. “It seems to me that we think that criminalizing acts change behavior. It doesn’t.”

The Cities Church protest sparked a national conversation over whether such demonstrations are protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. According to the official indictment, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, several protesters were charged under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and accused of engaging in “a coordinated take-over style attack,” which included “acts of oppression, intimidation, threats, interference, and physical obstruction.”

“As a result of defendants’ conduct, the pastor and congregation were forced to terminate the Church’s worship service, congregants fled the Church building out of fear for their safety, other congregants took steps to implement an emergency plan, and young children were left to wonder, as one child put it, if their parents were going to die,” claimed the indictment.

According to prosecutors, protesters interrupted the sermon with “loud declarations” that included chants like “ICE Out!” and “Stand up, fight back!” as well as yells and the blowing of whistles. 

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a nonpartisan free speech watchdog group, has clarified that the First Amendment does not protect protesters who interrupt church services.

"There is no First Amendment right to enter a house of worship and engage in conduct that effectively shuts down a religious service, even as part of a protest," wrote FIRE board member Samuel J. Abrams. "Nor does anybody have the right to remain on private property after being asked by its owner or authorized representatives to leave."

A Republican lawmaker in California also introduced a bill this month that would allow for individuals who disrupt worship services to be charged with a felony based on the severity of the violation. The bill is unlikely to pass in the Democrat-controlled California Legislature.