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On Wednesday, the Senate County and Municipal Government Committee held a public hearing to discuss SB247, a bill introduced by state Sen. Arthur Orr, R-District 3, which would effectively outlaw protesting outside of an individual’s residence in Alabama.
Sen. Orr called SB247 a “simple bill” originally inspired by protests against the confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.
“How intimidating would that be, whether you’re an elected person, unelected, it doesn’t matter, you’ve got family, small kids, whatever, and you’ve got several hundred people in that case angry at you outside your house?” Orr asked.
Orr explained that he decided to continue to pursue this legislation after protestors gathered outside the home of U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman, D-OH, in October 2024, to protest Landsman’s support of the Israeli assault on Gaza.
“What a terribly intimidating and scary situation to be in and we ought to do something about it,” Orr said.
Camille Bennett, the founder and executive director of Project Say Something — an Alabama-based nonprofit focused on racial justice issues — spoke in opposition of the bill.
“Alabama is the heart of the Civil Rights Movement. Black folk in Alabama understand the necessity of exercising our First Amendment rights as a pathway to freedom and navigation through white supremacist systems,” Bennett said.
“Lines 50 through 52 [of SB247] prohibit noise amplification near a residence with the intent to harass or disturb residents. In rural areas, peaceful protests will always be near residential areas. Harassment and disturbance is subjective and left up to the discretion of the powers that be,” she continued. “Lines 59 through 60 of SB247 attempts to control when we protest: 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset is difficult to interpret and again left up to discretion of law enforcement.”
Bennett also decried the bill for criminalizing protest in front of businesses.
“SB247 is not only a bad bill but an assault on the First Amendment rights and voices of marginalized Alabamians,” she concluded.
Sen. Merika Coleman, D-District 19, also wondered how it would be possible to conduct a peaceful protest in an urban area like Birmingham without being in contact with some residential area.
“My daughter lives in downtown Birmingham, she lives in a loft downtown, and there’s so many lofts downtown, so where would you actually go to have even a peaceful protest in downtown Birmingham and not be near residents?” Coleman asked.
Sen. Kirk Hatcher, D-District 26, also expressed concerns over the bill, and implied that public officials give up some of their right to privacy by electing to take office.
“You know, we’re public officials, and as a certain part of what we do I think we kind of give up certain parts of it,” he said.
Orr dismissed the senators’ concerns and argued that the legislation would still allow for protest.
“With the downtown question, we’ve got parks, we’ve got courthouse squares, we’ve got all sorts of public places… There’s plenty of places to make your sentiments known,” Orr responded.
Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-District 20, offered to work with Orr to add more specific language to the bill, arguing that the legislation was too vague in its current form.
“I signed up to be an elected official, but my children did not, so I can understand where you may be trying to go there,” Sen. Coleman also added. “But, again, from Birmingham, you know, the belly of the Civil Rights movement, and I love a protest myself, and so I’m just afraid that we might go too far when it’s left up to interpretation… who actually determines what’s intimidation? Just the fact that I’m there, for some people, or a crowd is there, for some people that might be deemed, you know, ‘intimidating’ or ‘harassing’ but it’s a peaceful protest.”
Coleman went on to vote against the bill’s passage while Coleman-Madison elected to abstain. However, the bill ultimately passed the committee and will now be sent to the Senate Floor.
