FRANKFORT,
Ky. (AP) — A federal court halted the Kentucky governor’s temporary ban
on mass gatherings from applying to in-person religious services,
clearing the way for Sunday church services.
U.S.
District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove on Friday issued a temporary
restraining order enjoining Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration from
enforcing the ban on mass gatherings at “any in-person religious service
which adheres to applicable social distancing and hygiene guidelines.”
The
ruling from the Eastern District of Kentucky sided with the Tabernacle
Baptist Church in Nicholasville, but applies to all places of worship
around the commonwealth. Two other federal judges, including U.S.
District Judge David Hale, had previously ruled the ban was
constitutional. But also on Friday, Hale, of Kentucky’s western
district, granted Maryville Baptist Church an injunction allowing
in-person services at that specific church, provided it abide by public
health requirements.
Exceptions
to the Democratic governor’s shutdown order include trips to the
grocery store, bank, pharmacy and hardware store. Beshear had previously
announced that places of worship in Kentucky will be able to once again
hold in-person services starting May 20, as part of a broader plan to
gradually reopen the state’s economy. Earlier Friday, he outlined requirements for places of worship
to reopen, including limiting attendance at in-person services to 33%
of building occupancy capacity and maintaining 6 feet (2 meters) of
distance between household units.
The federal judge’s order in the Tabernacle Baptist Church case
said Beshear had “an honest motive” in wanting to safeguard
Kentuckians’ health and lives, but didn’t provide “a compelling reason
for using his authority to limit a citizen’s right to freely exercise
something we value greatly — the right of every American to follow their
conscience on matters related to religion.”
Tabernacle
had broadcast services on Facebook and held drive-in services, but the
substitutes offered “cold comfort,” according to the opinion. The
opinion went on to say that Tabernacle alleged irreparable injury and
was likely to succeed on the merits of its federal constitutional claim,
as the defendants didn’t “dispute the challenged orders place a burden
on the free exercise of religion in Kentucky.”
“The
Constitution will endure. It would be easy to put it on the shelf in
times like this, to be pulled down and dusted off when more convenient,”
Van Tatenhove’s opinion read. “But that is not our tradition. Its
enduring quality requires that it be respected even when it is hard.”
His
opinion says Kentucky’s attorney general urged the court to apply the
injunction statewide, and since the executive order challenged didn’t
solely apply to Tabernacle, the injunction granted would also have a
similar scope.
“Both
rulings affirm that the law prohibits the government from treating
houses of worship differently than secular activities during this
pandemic,” Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican, said in a
statement late Friday.
A three-judge federal appeal court panel had last week cleared the way
for Maryville Baptist Church to hold drive-in worship services while
adhering to public health requirements, an alternative that Beshear has
strongly encouraged throughout the coronavirus pandemic. But that panel
had stopped short of applying its order to in-person worship services.
Maryville
had defied Beshear’s order for houses of worship to not hold in-person
services amid the COVID-19 outbreak. At least 50 people attended its
Easter service at the church, and the church has held other services
since. In response, the governor said Kentucky State Police troopers
would record license plates and place notices on vehicles telling Easter
service attendees they would have to self-quarantine.
Maryville
had turned to the appeals court after Hale had initially refused to
stop Beshear’s order from applying to religious services, saying it bans
all mass gatherings and thus does not discriminate against religion.
In his order Friday,
Hale said the governor failed to prove there was no less restrictive
alternative to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and failed to address
the appeals court’s suggestion to limit the number of people who could
attend services. He said that the burden of proof was on the governor
and Maryville Baptist Church “would likely succeed on the merits of
their claim under the Kentucky Religious Freedom Restoration Act.”
Beshear’s office had not issued a statement on the injunctions as of late Friday night.
For
most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as
fever and cough that clear up within weeks. For some, especially older
adults and those with existing health problems, it can cause more severe
illness, even death.
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