Rep. Greg Barnes, R-Curry, voting on a local bill in the Alabama House of Representatives on Jan. 21, 2026, in Montgomery, Alabama, in the Alabama State House. A House committee Wednesday approved a bill sponsored by Barnes that would make the intentional disruption of church services a crime. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)
An Alabama House committee Wednesday approved legislation that would make it a crime to intentionally disrupt a church service.
HB 363, sponsored by Rep. Greg Barnes, R-Jasper, would make it a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, to intentionally disrupt the proceedings in a house of worship by engaging in “riot, unlawful protest, or disorderly conduct” or by harassing people who attend the service.
“This bill does not impede on anyone’s freedom of expression except on church property or in the building,” Barnes told the committee in response to questions.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.
A person charged under the law would have to intentionally disrupt a worship service with a scheduled starting time; harass individual participants or block ingress or egress into the building.
Protests erupted recently in Minneapolis in response to mass deportation efforts by Immigration and Customs Enforcement against people who are allegedly in the country without appropriate legal status.
Last month, protestors interrupted a service at a Minneapolis church with a pastor who serves as an ICE field agent. The protestors chanted “Justice for Renee Good,” who was shot and killed by an ICE agent earlier in January.
Federal agents have arrested several members of the protest and journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, who covered the event, actions that have provoked criticism from media outlets.
A second violation would require a minimum of five years in prison.
Barnes said the legislation does not affect people on public property.
“So, if you have a group of people on the sidewalk, that does not pertain to them, Ok,” said TaShina Morris, D-Montgomery.
The committee approved the bill unanimously. It moves to the House.
From Alabama Reflector Post Url: Visit
Author: Ralph Chapoco