Efforts to chill the rise of antisemitism in Alaska have resulted in intensified penalties for criminals who target synagogues, churches, mosques and other religious locations.
On Tuesday, the state’s Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed into law House Bill 238 during a ceremony at the Lubavitch Jewish Center in Anchorage, a complex that includes the Alaska Jewish Museum.
The measure makes vandalism against houses of worship and religious sites a felony instead of a misdemeanor, which increases the punishment from as much as one year in jail and a fine of up to $25,000 to as much as five years in jail and as high as a $50,000 fine.
At the signing ceremony, Rabbi Mendy Greenberg stated that “hopefully, this bill will be a deterrence for people that have such ideas, such ill ideas in their mind that they will not go ahead and do this knowing that there’s a more severe punishment.”
