SB27 Alabama 2012 1st Special Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Scott Beason

Republican

Session

First Special Session 2012

Title

Abortion, require physician involvement, define terms, express intent, require certain standard in treatment and care, require reporting, require Board of Health adopt rules and provide penalties

Summary

The bill increases penalties for hate crimes and for crimes targeting religious property by imposing higher minimum sentences and defining religious property.

What This Bill Does

It strengthens Alabama hate-crime penalties by requiring higher sentences when a crime is shown to be motivated by a victim's race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or disability. It also adds explicit penalties for arson, burglary, and criminal mischief committed against religious property (such as churches and religious cemeteries), applying the enhanced penalties to those offenses. The bill defines religious property and sets minimum sentence levels for felonies and misdemeanors tied to these motivations, and it references habitual offender provisions for repeat violators. The changes become law after the governor signs and it takes effect a few months later.

Who It Affects

• Offenders who commit arson, burglary, or criminal mischief against religious property (churches, cemeteries, or other places of worship) will face enhanced penalties and minimum sentences.
• Offenders whose crimes are shown to be motivated by the victim's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or physical or mental disability will face higher sentences (felonies and, for misdemeanors, a minimum of three months) under the hate-crime provisions.

Key Provisions

• Amends Section 13A-5-13 to add enhanced penalties for crimes where the offender's motivation is the victim's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or disability.
• Felonies with motivating factors: minimum sentences—Class A no less than 15 years, Class B no less than 10 years, Class C no less than 2 years; potential enhancement under the Habitual Felony Offender Act.
• Misdemeanors with motivating factors: minimum sentence is a Class A misdemeanor with at least 3 months.
• For religious property offenses (arson, burglary, criminal mischief across all degrees), additional penalties under the hate-crime provisions apply because of the religious character of the property.
• Religious property is defined as churches, religious cemeteries, or other places of religious worship, including fixtures or religious objects therein.
• Effective date: becomes law on the first day of the third month after passage and governor approval.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 24, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Abortion