Alabama House passes bill that makes it a felony to disrupt church services

The Alabama House of Representatives approved a bill on Tuesday that criminalizes disrupting a church service.

HB 363, sponsored by Rep. Greg Barnes, R-Curry, prohibits interrupting a worship service by participating in riots, unlawful protest or disorderly conduct.

“This is a religious protection bill that protects all religions, not just churches, synagogues, etc. And that’s a very narrowly tailored, narrowly scoped bill,” Barnes said on the House floor.

Under the bill, individuals who violate the law will be charged with a Class C felony, punishable up to 10 years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

The bill passed 75-27, and was debated heavily by House Democrats.

“I want all y’all good Republicans in here to stop watching Fox News,”Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, said. “Because y’all have sat out there and literally watched Fox News and then decided to come back here to the great state of Alabama, and to present this bill for sponsorship. And now we are here.”

Rep. Sam Jones, D-Mobile, called the bill “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,” Jones said. “It seems to me that we think that criminalizing acts change behavior. It doesn’t.”

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Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, also opposed the bill.

“Under this particular piece of legislation, when Jesus went out there and flipped over some tables, he would have been a Class C felon,” England said during debate.

After 40 minutes of debate, House Majority Leader Paul Lee, R-Dothan, made a motion to end debate. The motion passed with a party line vote.

Rep. A.J. McCampbell, D-Linden, said the debate ended prematurely.

“We have a situation where there are controversial bills that are very significant bills that the people of Alabama need to hear about,” he said after the bill passed. “I don’t think it’s fair to the people of the state that all people’s voices are not heard.”

After the bill passed, Givan expressed her concerns about the bill’s implications for journalism.

“If this bill passes in both houses in this building, this will set a further case precedent that will say that journalism as we know it is going further and further out the window,” she said.

If passed, the legislation will go into effect Oct. 1. It goes to the Senate.