Name: Appeals court lets Beshear's ban on in-church services amid coronavirus pandemic stand
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Appeals court lets Beshear's ban on in-church services amid coronavirus pandemic stand

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Louisville Courier JournalView CommentsA federal appeals court declined to&nbsp;rule Saturday on Gov. Andy Beshear’s ban on in-person church services at Maryville Baptist Church amid the coronavirus pandemic.The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did, however, say that Beshear and other state officials cannot prevent the Bullitt County church from holding drive-in services.Regarding the in-person services decision, the Cincinnati-based panel said it was not comfortable extending an injunction after only being given the case 24 hours earlier."We realize that this falls short of everything the Church has asked&nbsp;for and much of what it wants," the Sixth Circuit judges wrote Saturday.Still, the three-judge panel expressed support for the church's arguments that the statewide&nbsp;mass gathering ban should not apply to in-person worship services."The breadth of the ban on religious services, together with a&nbsp;haven for numerous secular exceptions, should give pause to anyone who prizes religious freedom," the judges wrote. "But it’s not always easy to decide what is Caesar’s and what is God’s and that’s assuredly true&nbsp;in the context of a pandemic."&nbsp;, the Florida-based Christian ministry&nbsp;that is representing Maryville Baptist Church and its pastor, struck a victorious tone in response to Saturday's ruling.Beshear:Earlier:"This is stellar victory for religious freedom,"&nbsp;Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Mat Staver said in a statement.&nbsp;"From the beginning we have said that Gov. Andy Beshear’s orders violated the First Amendment and the Kentucky Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The laws of the Commonwealth and the Constitution are not suspended during a crisis or a pandemic."Gov. Beshear intentionally banned religious services for no reason other than he wanted to. This decision clearly reveals he was wrong."However, Beshear&nbsp;spokeswoman&nbsp;Crystal Staley&nbsp;told The Courier Journal in an email Saturday that the Sixth Circuit decision "supports what the Governor has said all along.""While Maryville Baptist claimed that the Governor banned drive-in services, he clearly did not. The Governor has allowed and even encouraged hundreds of drive-in services across Kentucky," Staley said.&nbsp;"He explicitly encouraged them for Easter at his daily news conferences and on calls with local leaders and clergy."What the Sixth Circuit decided is that drive-in services are okay, but the Governor's order prohibiting in-person services remains in effect. That has been the Governor’s exact policy since the beginning."Attorneys for Maryville Baptist Church and its pastor, Jack Roberts, had to&nbsp;block Beshear’s temporary ban on mass gatherings from applying to religious services.The request came after the church's attorneys expressed displeasure with the pace at which a U.S. District Court judge was considering Maryville's lawsuit against Beshear&nbsp;over the church's ability to continue holding in-person worship services amid the COVID-19 pandemic.The church argued it would face "more Commonwealth enforcement actions" for upcoming worship services on Sundays and Wednesdays."In the near term, we urge the district court to prioritize&nbsp;resolution of the claims in view of the looming May 20 date and for the Governor and plaintiffs to&nbsp;consider acceptable alternatives," the appellate judges said.In a tweet, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said his office "supported Maryville in their lawsuit and will continue to fight for the Constitutional rights of Kentuckians.”As Beshear, May 20 is when places of worship will be able to once again&nbsp;hold in-person services, as part of the state's plan to slowly reopen parts of the economy.On March 19, Beshear&nbsp;signed an executive order banning mass gatherings, including "faith-based" events. And on March 25, the governor also ordered all non-life-sustaining businesses to close as part of the state's fight against COVID-19.But the governor has previously denied that his order applies to drive-in church&nbsp;services, saying that he welcomes the outdoor gatherings that features attendees worshiping from their cars in parking lots.U.S. District Judge David Hale seemed to agree with Beshear in April, when he for a restraining order blocking&nbsp;enforcement of Beshear’s order&nbsp;barring faith-based mass gatherings.However, the panel of Sixth Circuit judges wrote Saturday that the governor's order does not explicitly set aside an exception for drive-in services.And they pointed to the outside Maryville Baptist Church's Easter Sunday service, which featured roughly 50 attendees.ICYMI:Read more:The troopers, at the order of Beshear, recorded license plates and placed notices on the vehicles of attendees who went inside for&nbsp;the Easter service, with the notices telling attendees that&nbsp;they will have to self-quarantine.The Sixth Circuit members&nbsp;involved in Saturday's ruling were Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton, appointed by President George W. Bush in 2003; Senior Judge&nbsp;David W. McKeague, appointed by Bush in 2005; and Judge John B. Nalbandian, appointed by President Donald Trump in 2018.The governor's order, according to the Sixth Circuit judges, also likely prohibits the free exercise of religion, in violation of the First and Fourteenth amendments.Beshear allows "life-sustaining" operations but does not including worship services in that definition, despite many of the exempted "secular activities" posing "comparable public health risks to worship services," the judges said.The judges said that while law firms, laundromats, liquor stores and gun shops can continue to operate as long as they follow social-distancing and other health-related precautions,&nbsp;Beshear's orders "do not permit soul-sustaining group services of faith organizations, even if the groups adhere to all the public health guidelines required of essential services and even when they meet outdoors.""We don’t doubt the Governor’s sincerity in trying to do his level best to lessen the spread&nbsp;of the virus or his authority to protect the Commonwealth’s citizens," the judges said. "And we agree that no one, whether a person of faith or&nbsp;not, has a right 'to expose the community . . . to communicable disease.'""But restrictions inexplicably applied to one group and exempted&nbsp;from another do little to further these goals and do much to burden religious freedom," the judges continued.&nbsp;"Assuming&nbsp;all of the same precautions are taken, why is it safe to wait in a car for a liquor store to open but&nbsp;dangerous to wait in a car to hear morning prayers?Why can someone safely walk down a grocery&nbsp;store aisle but not a pew? &nbsp;And why can someone safely interact with a brave deliverywoman but&nbsp;not with a stoic minister?""The Commonwealth has no good answers. While the law may take&nbsp;periodic naps during a pandemic, we will not let it sleep through one."Reach Billy Kobin at or 502-582-7030. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: .View Comments

Louisville Courier JournalView CommentsA federal appeals court declined to&nbsp;rule Saturday on Gov. Andy Beshear’s ban on in-person church services at Maryville Baptist Church amid the coronavirus pandemic.The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did, however, say that Beshear and other state officials cannot prevent the Bullitt County church from holding drive-in services.Regarding the in-person services decision, the Cincinnati-based panel said it was not comfortable extending an injunction after only being given the case 24 hours earlier."We realize that this falls short of everything the...

Appeals court lets Beshear's ban on in-church services amid coronavirus pandemic stand

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