MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Lilly Fowler0
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The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and other groups looking to protest outside houses of worship have won a court battle against a state law aimed at curtailing such activity.
On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, ruled that the House of Worship Protection Act violates the First Amendment.
The law, which took effect in 2012, bars anyone from intentionally disturbing a “house of worship by using profane discourse, rude or indecent behavior … either within the house of worship or so near it as to disturb the order and solemnity of the worship services.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri filed a lawsuit that same year on behalf of various groups pushing for change in the Roman Catholic Church. The groups argued that the First Amendment protects their freedom to recite prayers, hold signs and distribute literature outside houses of worship in an effort to communicate their messages to church leaders and parishioners.
At the time of the lawsuit, ACLU legal director Tony Rothert cited the severe sentences given to members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, for their political protest inside a Russian Orthodox Church.
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