This bill will afford churches additional flexibility and freedom from local zoning ordinances to meet the needs of their communities. The bill also provides that a person whose exercise of religious freedom has been burdened may assert a claim of violation in a judicial proceeding and the court may grant appropriate relief, including attorneys' fees. It prohibits any branch, department, agency or instrumentality of state government, or any political subdivision of the State, from burdening the free exercise of religion. Please call your Delegates and urge them to support this bill. It criminalizes thought, speech and association, while providing no significant deterrent effect.
All violent crimes are essentially acts of hate.
Our criminal justice system has consistently punished defendants for their intentional bad actions, not their thoughts, words or associations. Urge them to vote against HB2441. This bill would force churches and child-care providers to hire open homosexuals, despite their opposition on moral or religious grounds. Please call your Senators and tell them that enough is enough. Urge them to vote against and organize active opposition to SB 815.