At least four states have moved this year to make disrupting a worship service a crime, a direct legislative reaction to a January protest inside a Minnesota cathedral that interrupted Mass and led to federal charges for several demonstrators. Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Kansas each passed bills that sponsors say are needed to protect congregants, while civil-liberties experts warn the measures are unnecessarily broad and may violate the First Amendment.
The catalyst was a Sunday-morning protest at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Demonstrators walked into the historic church during services to speak out against the Trump administration’s immigration policies and to draw attention to the cathedral’s pastor, who is also the head of enforcement and removal operations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Several protesters, among them former CNN anchor Don Lemon, now face federal charges under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which bars obstructing access to reproductive health services and places of worship. Lemon has said he was reporting on the event, and his attorney has argued the charges themselves violate the First Amendment.
The episode shook faith leaders and lawmakers alike. “I think the thing that happened in Minnesota was kind of a shock to some of us, that churches would be used as a place to berate people,” said Idaho Sen. Mark Harris, a Republican who co-sponsored his state’s legislation. The Idaho law makes it a misdemeanor to intentionally disrupt a religious gathering, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Louisiana’s statute is similar; Oklahoma’s version imposes felony penalties.
“People should go to church to be able to sit in peace, worship as they please, without having to worry about people coming in and harassing them,” Harris said. Louisiana Rep. Gabe Firment, another Republican sponsor, described his bill as a straightforward extension of protections already afforded to homes and businesses. Oklahoma Sen. Todd Gollihare said his state’s law would prevent “escalating clashes” between worshipers and protesters.
The laws have drawn strong criticism from free-speech advocates. Kevin Goldberg, a First Amendment specialist at the Freedom Forum, said the statutes are “extraordinarily broad” and “likely unconstitutional in many applications.” He noted that peaceful protest inside a church is protected speech, and that existing trespassing and disorderly-conduct laws already give law enforcement ample tools to respond to genuine disruptions. The federal FACE Act also provides a legal avenue for prosecuting those who obstruct worship services, he said.
Kansas took a more limited approach. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly signed a bill that prohibits only intentional harassment of worshippers, and it carries fines rather than jail time. Her office described the measure as narrowly tailored to protect religious exercise without infringing on lawful protest.
The four laws are part of a wider wave of state-level religious-freedom legislation advancing this year. Legal observers expect challenges to the broader statutes as soon as they are applied, setting up a new round of court tests over where the boundary lies between the right to worship and the right to speak.