SACRED Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8239 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8239

   To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit harassment of
persons lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment
 right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship, within a
distance of 100 feet or closer to such place of religious worship, and
                          for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 9, 2026

    Mr. Suozzi (for himself and Mr. Miller of Ohio) introduced the
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit harassment of
persons lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment
 right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship, within a
distance of 100 feet or closer to such place of religious worship, and
                          for other purposes.

    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 ``Safeguarding Access to Congregations
and Religious Establishments from Disruption Act'' or the ``SACRED
Act''.

SEC. 2. FREEDOM OF ACCESS TO PLACES OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 13 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 251. Freedom of access to places of religious worship
    ``(a) Prohibited Activities.--Whoever, in or affecting interstate
or foreign commerce--
            ``(1) engages in any course of conduct within 100 feet of a
        place of religious worship, with the intent to intimidate or
        obstruct the passage of any person exercising or seeking to
        exercise the First Amendment right to religious freedom
        therein, and in a manner that causes any person to reasonably
        fear for their physical safety while entering or exiting the
        place of religious worship; or
            ``(2) within 100 feet of a place of religious worship,
        intentionally approaches and harasses any person seeking to
        exercise the First Amendment right to religious freedom, within
        8 feet of such person,
shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).
    ``(b) Penalties.--Whoever violates this section shall--
            ``(1) in the case of a first offense, be fined in
        accordance with this title, or imprisoned not more than one
        year, or both; and
            ``(2) in the case of a second or subsequent offense after a
        prior conviction under this section, be fined in accordance
        with this title, or imprisoned not more than 3 years, or both;
except that for an offense involving exclusively nonviolent conduct,
the fine shall be not more than $10,000 and the length of imprisonment
shall be not more than six months, or both, for the first offense; and
the fine shall, notwithstanding section 3571, be not more than $25,000
and the length of imprisonment shall be not more than 18 months, or
both, for a subsequent offense; and except that if bodily injury
results, the length of imprisonment shall be not more than 10 years,
and if death results, it shall be for any term of years or for life.
    ``(c) Civil Remedies.--
            ``(1) Right of action.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Any person aggrieved by reason
                of the conduct prohibited by subsection (a) may
                commence a civil action for the relief set forth in
                subparagraph (B), except that such an action may be
                brought only by a person lawfully exercising or seeking
                to exercise the First Amendment right of religious
                freedom at a place of religious worship or by the
                entity that owns or operates such place of religious
                worship.
                    ``(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 of the
                United States has reasonable cause to believe that any
                person or 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 United States District Court.
                    ``(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 persons aggrieved as
                described in paragraph (1)(B). The court, to vindicate
                the public interest, may also assess a civil penalty
                against each respondent--
                            ``(i) in an amount not exceeding $10,000
                        for a nonviolent offense and $15,000 for other
                        first violations; and
                            ``(ii) in an amount not exceeding $15,000
                        for a nonviolent offense and $25,000 for any
                        other subsequent violation.
            ``(3) Actions by state attorneys general.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If the Attorney General of a
                State has reasonable cause to believe that any person
                or 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 United States District Court.
                    ``(B) Relief.--In any action under subparagraph
                (A), the court may award appropriate relief, including
                temporary, preliminary or permanent injunctive relief,
                compensatory damages, and civil penalties as described
                in paragraph (2)(B).
    ``(d) Rules of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed--
            ``(1) to prohibit any expressive conduct (including
        peaceful picketing or other peaceful demonstration) occurring
        outside places of religious worship protected from legal
        prohibition by the First Amendment to the Constitution; or
            ``(2) to provide exclusive criminal penalties or civil
        remedies with respect to the conduct prohibited by this
        section, or to preempt State or local laws that may provide
        such penalties or remedies.
    ``(e) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            ``(1) The term `obstruct' means to render impassable
        ingress to or egress from a place of religious worship, or to
        render passage to or from a place of religious worship
        unreasonably difficult or hazardous.
            ``(2) The term `intimidate' means to place a person in
        reasonable apprehension of imminent physical injury to himself
        or herself or to another person.
            ``(3) The term `harass' means to commit a serious act or
        engage in a course of conduct directed at a specific person
        that interferes with their freedom of movement, and is intended
        to and does place that person in reasonable fear of physical
        harm, or is intended to and does cause that person to
        reasonably experience substantial emotional distress.
            ``(4) The term `course of conduct' means a series of acts
        over a period of time, however short, indicating a continuity
        of purpose.
            ``(5) The term `serious act' means a single act of
        threatening, intimidating, or violent conduct.
            ``(6) The term `place of religious worship' means any
        building, structure or space that is used primarily for
        religious worship activities or to provide religious education
        or instruction, and includes the parking lot, parking lot
        entrance, driveway and driveway entrance of any such building,
        structure, or space.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 13 of
title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following:

``251. Freedom of access to places of religious worship.''.
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