Federal law stops people from blocking worship.
H.R. 10052 — Right to Worship Act · Filed by Brad Knott (R-NC) · 18 cosponsors · Introduced Aug 6, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill makes it a crime to block or stop people from going to worship. It applies within 100 feet of a worship building. The protected time is one hour before and one hour after services. People who break this rule pay fines. A first offense costs $2,500. Repeat offenses cost up to $10,000. Worship groups can also sue people for up to $5,000 per violation and recover lawyer fees. The bill says it protects free speech and permits from the state.
Who it affects
Worship groups and people who attend services gain protection from being blocked. People who protest or gather near worship buildings during service times could face fines and lawsuits. This is true even if they do not physically block entry.
One thing to notice
The law uses a vague standard to decide if someone broke the rule. This could catch peaceful protest or quiet vigils that do not stop people from going in.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
18 cosponsors: 13 Republicans, 5 Democrats.
- Aug 6, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Aug 6, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (6,515 characters) on Aug 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,206 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-17.
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