States Crack Down on Protests Disrupting Religious Services

New laws aim to protect places of worship, but raise First Amendment concerns

Feb. 17, 2026 at 8:47pm

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In the wake of a widely publicized incident last month where protesters disrupted a worship service at a Minnesota church, Republican and Democratic lawmakers in several states have pushed legislation to increase penalties for disrupting religious services at houses of worship. However, critics on both sides of the political aisle argue that such measures infringe on the First Amendment right to free speech.

Why it matters

The recent push to crack down on protests at places of worship has sparked a constitutional debate, with concerns that the new laws could violate the First Amendment's protections for free speech and the free exercise of religion. While supporters argue the measures are needed to protect worshippers, opponents say they go too far in restricting lawful protest.

The details

Republican state Sen. Todd Gollihare of Oklahoma introduced a bill last year to strengthen state law protecting places of worship from protesters, which failed to become law. This year, his church protest bill sailed through the legislature and was signed into law by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt. In recent weeks, Republican and Democratic lawmakers in states including Alabama, Idaho, Ohio and South Dakota have pushed similar legislation, none of which has passed yet. The new laws aim to increase penalties for disrupting religious services, with some proposing buffer zones around houses of worship to restrict protests.

  • In January 2026, protesters disrupted a worship service at a Minnesota church to confront a pastor who is a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official and to demand justice for Renee Good, who was shot and killed by an ICE agent 11 days before.
  • In November 2025, anti-Israel protesters chanted pro-Hamas slogans outside a New York City synagogue.

The players

Todd Gollihare

An Oklahoma Republican state senator who introduced a bill to strengthen state law protecting places of worship from protesters, which was signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt.

Kevin Stitt

The Republican governor of Oklahoma who signed Gollihare's church protest bill into law.

Kathy Hochul

The Democratic governor of New York who has proposed a 25-foot buffer zone around houses of worship, in addition to penalties for protesters who 'alarm and annoy' worshippers.

Julie Menin

The Democratic New York City Council Chair who has proposed letting the police ban protests within 100 feet of houses of worship.

Eugene Volokh

A senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution who argues that these types of laws can run afoul of the First Amendment when they try to punish the content of speech, rather than the manner or location of it.

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What they’re saying

“A lot of us conservatives saw it as a violation of the freedom of speech and the freedom to protest. I couldn't in good conscience vote for that. I saw it as a way to incriminate more people.”

— Kendal Sacchieri, Republican state senator in Oklahoma

“If someone enters onto private property and refuses to leave when you ask them to leave, they can be charged for trespassing. The fact that it occurs in a church is no different than if it occurs in a movie theater or any other privately owned setting to which the public is invited.”

— Ken Paulson, Director of the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University

“You can't just punish speech or criminalize behavior because it's rude. You can't treat a certain type of speech differently based on the content of that speech.”

— Eugene Volokh, Senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution

“I'm concerned about some of the ambiguous definitions in there, about faith communities and about what 'disruption' [means], or how it would be implemented, who would be targeted with it. I think we can all agree we want folks to have a safe space to worship and that we need to make sure that happens. I'm just not sure that was the way to take it.”

— Julia Kirt, Democratic Senate minority leader in Oklahoma

“What I have a problem with is people entering and disrupting a religious service to make a political point. That's what we're looking to crack down on.”

— Tex Fischer, Republican state representative in Ohio

What’s next

The judge in the Oklahoma case will decide on Tuesday whether or not to allow Walker Reed Quinn out on bail.

The takeaway

This debate highlights the ongoing tension between protecting the free exercise of religion and safeguarding the right to free speech, with lawmakers struggling to find the right balance. The outcome of any legal challenges to these new state laws could have significant implications for how this issue is resolved.