MISSOURI
Washington Post

Ban on profane, rude, or indecent speech that disturbs houses of worship violates the First Amendment

By Eugene Volokh March 9

So holds the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in today’s SNAP v. Joyce, a case in which the UCLA First Amendment Amicus Brief Clinic (which I run) filed an amicus brief. The statute, Missouri Revised Statutes § 574.035 (the Missouri House of Worship Protection Act), in relevant part, criminalized behavior that

1. “[i]ntentionally and unreasonably disturbs … or disquiets” a house of worship
2. through “profane discourse [and] rude or indecent behavior”
3. “so near [the house of worship] as to disturb the order and solemnity of the worship services.”

(The statute also prohibits excessive noise and physical intrusion into the church, but these provisions were not being challenged.) The court noted that the statute was potentially quite broad:

[C]ritical…