Key point 7-12. Federal law makes it a crime to intentionally deface, damage, or destroy religious property because of the religious character of that property. Many states have enacted similar laws.
Federal law makes it a crime to intentionally deface, damage, or destroy any religious property because of the religious character of that property.215 18 U.S.C. § 247. The offense must affect interstate commerce.The same law makes it a crime to intentionally deface, damage, or destroy any religious property “because of the race, color, or ethnic characteristics of any individual associated with that religious property.”216 Id.Religious property is defined to include “any church, synagogue, mosque, religious cemetery, or other religious real property, including fixtures or religious objects contained within a place of religious worship.” A federal appeals court affirmed the constitutionality of this law in a case involving an arsonist who set fire to 11 churches in four states.217 United States v. Ballinger, 395 F.3d 1218 (11th Cir. 2005).
Several states have enacted similar laws, and the courts have upheld their validity against the claim that they favor religious property.