[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10052 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10052
To protect the right to the free exercise of religion.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 6, 2026
Mr. Knott (for himself, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. Lawler, and Mr. Gottheimer)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To protect the right to the free exercise of religion.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Right to Worship Act''.
SEC. 2. PROTECTING THE RIGHT TO THE FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION.
(a) Definitions and Rules.--
(1) Definitions.--In this section:
(A) Disrupt.--The term ``disrupt'', used with
respect to conduct and a scheduled religious service,
means conduct that meaningfully interferes with the
ability of people to participate in the scheduled
religious service, to the extent that the conduct
causes a substantial interruption to the service's
normal operation.
(B) House of worship.--The term ``house of
worship'' means a defined parcel of property or other
space that religious adherents collectively recognize
or religious leadership designates as a place to
routinely or regularly gather to hold religious
services.
(C) Impede.--The term ``impede'', used with respect
to conduct and a scheduled religious service, means
conduct that unreasonably hinders or deters a person
from entering a house of worship, or that threatens or
intimidates a person, in a manner that prevents
participation at a scheduled religious service.
(D) Knowingly.--The term ``knowingly'', used with
respect to a person and a disruption or impediment,
means that the person is aware or reasonably should be
aware that the person's conduct will cause such
disruption or impediment, respectively.
(E) Religious service.--The term ``religious
service'' includes any collective worship or prayer
service, class, or other event, at which individuals
congregate to worship, study, or otherwise exercise,
their religion.
(F) Scheduled religious service.--The term
``scheduled religious service'' includes any religious
service--
(i) that is observably underway or
imminently beginning or concluding, as
evidenced by the gathering or dispersing of
congregants at or by congregants approaching or
leaving a house of worship;
(ii) the date and time of which have been
communicated to the defendant by law
enforcement, by a representative of the house
of worship, or through a prior judicial or
administrative proceeding, or of which the
defendant had actual knowledge; or
(iii) follows a customary and regularly
recurring schedule of which the defendant had
actual knowledge.
(G) State.--The term ``State'' includes a State of
the United States, the District of Columbia, and any
commonwealth or territory.
(2) Rules.--
(A) Scheduled religious service.--Nothing in this
section shall require a house of worship to publish the
schedule for a scheduled religious service on any
publicly accessible medium.
(B) Disruption.--For the purposes of this section,
whether a person's course of conduct is a disruption
shall be determined only by the manner in which the
course of conduct is carried out, including its volume,
duration, pervasiveness, frequency, and impact, rather
than by the content of any speech or expression
involved.
(b) Prohibited Activities.--It shall be unlawful for any person--
(1) to engage in a course of conduct that substantially
affects interstate commerce, within 100 feet from any
pedestrian or vehicular entryway of any house of worship,
during the period beginning 1 hour before the start of and
ending 1 hour after the conclusion of a scheduled religious
service, by knowingly disrupting the scheduled religious
service or knowingly impeding people from participating at the
scheduled religious service; or
(2) to conspire to engage in, or cause another person to
engage in, any course of conduct made unlawful under paragraph
(1).
(c) Rules of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed--
(1) to preclude a person from freely speaking on any
subject so long as such speech is conducted pursuant to the
time, place, and manner restrictions set forth in this section;
or
(2) to preclude participation in activities for which a
Federal, State, or local government entity has issued a permit.
(d) Civil Fines.--Whoever violates this section shall be assessed,
by the Attorney General--
(1) in the case of a first offense, a civil fine of $2,500;
(2) in the case of a second offense, a civil fine of
$5,000; and
(3) in the case of a third or subsequent offense, a civil
fine of $10,000 per occurrence.
(e) Civil Remedies.--
(1) Right of action.--
(A) In general.--Any person aggrieved by reason of
a violation of subsection (b) may commence a civil
action for the relief set forth in subparagraph (B) in
any appropriate district court of the United States.
(B) Relief.--In any action under subparagraph (A),
the court may award appropriate relief, including
temporary, preliminary, or permanent injunctive relief
and compensatory and punitive damages, as well as the
costs of suit and reasonable fees for attorneys and
expert witnesses. With respect to compensatory damages,
the plaintiff may elect, at any time prior to the
rendering of final judgment, to recover, in lieu of
actual damages, an award of statutory damages in the
amount of $5,000 per violation.
(2) Action by attorney general of the united states.--
(A) In general.--If the Attorney General has
reasonable cause to believe that any person (including
a group of persons) is being, has been, or may be
injured by conduct constituting a violation of this
section, the Attorney General may commence a civil
action in any appropriate district court of the United
States.
(B) Relief.--In any action under subparagraph (A),
the court may award appropriate relief, including
temporary, preliminary or permanent injunctive relief,
and compensatory damages to a person aggrieved as
described in paragraph (1)(A). In the absence of actual
damages, the court, to vindicate the public interest,
may assess a civil penalty against each defendant in
the amount of $5,000 per violation.
(3) Actions by state attorney general.--
(A) In general.--If the Attorney General of a State
has reasonable cause to believe that any person
(including a group of persons) is being, has been, or
may be injured by conduct constituting a violation of
this section, such Attorney General may commence a
civil action in the name of such State, as parens
patriae on behalf of natural persons residing in such
State, in any appropriate district court of the United
States.
(B) Relief.--In any action under subparagraph (A),
the court may award the relief described in paragraph
(2)(B).
(f) Severability.--If any provision of this Act (including a
sentence, phrase, or word) or the application of such provision to any
person or circumstance is held to be invalid, illegal,
unconstitutional, or unenforceable by a court of competent
jurisdiction, the remainder of this Act and of the application of the
provision to any person or circumstance, that can be enforced without
the use of the offending provision or application, shall not be
affected.
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