§ 11-44-31 — § 11-44-31. Desecration of places of public assemblage.

§ 11-44-31. Desecration of places of public assemblage.

Every person who shall, willfully and maliciously or mischievously, injure or destroy or write upon, paint, or otherwise damage or deface: (1) any church, synagogue, or other building, structure, or place used for religious worship or other religious purpose; (2) any cemetery, mortuary, or other facility used for the purpose of burial or memorializing the dead; (3) any building used for educational purposes or as a community meeting place and which is owned by an organization exempt from taxation under 26 U.S.C. § 501; (4) any public building owned and/or operated by the government of the United States or by the government of the state of Rhode Island or its political subdivisions; (5) the grounds adjacent to and owned or rented by any institution, facility, building, structure, or place described in subdivisions (1), (2), (3), or (4) of this section; or (6) any personal property contained in any institution, facility, building, structure, or place described in subdivisions (1), (2), (3), (4), or (5) of this section; shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or imprisonment not exceeding five (5) years, or both.

Legislative History

P.L. 1982, ch. 374, § 1; P.L. 1986, ch. 512, § 1.