Bill Description: Senate BIll 1296 would clarify that anyone who trespasses on church property with the intent to harass or disrupt a religious service is guilty of a misdemeanor.

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Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the United States Constitution or the Idaho Constitution? Examples include restrictions on speech, public assembly, the press, privacy, private property, or firearms. Conversely, does it restore or uphold the protections guaranteed in the US Constitution or the Idaho Constitution?

Senate Bill 1296 would clarify that a person commits the crime of trespass when he “enters or remains on the premises of a church or house of worship without permission” with intent to "intimidate or harass or to disrupt a church service or assemblage of people meeting for religious worship.” The First Amendment protects the right of all Americans and Idahoans to worship God free from any harassment or persecution. This law would enhance that protection against protestors and others who seek to willfully and maliciously disrupt a religious proceeding and thereby abridge citizen’s First Amendment rights.

The First Amendment also protects the right of the public to peacefully protest for the redress of grievances. The Idaho Constitution, Article One, Section 10 states: “Right of assembly. The people shall have the right to assemble in a peaceable manner, to consult for their common good; to instruct their representatives, and to petition the legislature for the redress of grievances.” However, this right does not and cannot extend to the disruption of a worship service on the private property of a religious organization. There is no protected right to harass, disturb, or disrupt such a gathering and to do so would gravely infringe upon not only the First Amendment but the very idea of free private association. Protest is not a license to abrogate property rights and religious freedom.

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