Lawsuit accuses Beshear of violating church’s constitutional rights amid COVID-19 pandemic
Another lawsuit has been filed that accuses Gov. Andy Beshear of violating churchgoers’ First Amendment rights during the coronavirus pandemic.
Maryville Baptist Church in Louisville, where an in-person service was held on Easter Sunday, and its pastor, Jack Roberts, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Louisville Friday, saying they have been irreparably injured and “explicitly targeted, singled out, and punished for participating in a religious or ‘faith-based’ gathering.”
Beshear said Saturday that he is “not concerned about” the lawsuit.
He said the church had other options for worshiping, including holding online or drive-up services, and he questioned whether social distancing guidelines were followed last Sunday.
“God gives us wisdom, and virtually all of our faith leaders are leading with that wisdom,” he said.
The Centers for Disease Control says studies indicate that people without symptoms can spread COVID-19.
Beshear had warned last week that Kentucky State Police would record the license plate information of people attending “mass gatherings” that weekend so that they could be quarantined to their homes for 14 days afterward.
A press release issued by the governor’s office also pointed out that attending such a gathering was a misdemeanor violation of the governor’s and public health department’s emergency orders.
The suit states that on Sunday, state police placed notices on the cars in the parking lot at Maryville Baptist alerting them that local health department employees “will be contacting those associated with this vehicle with self-quarantine documents, including an agreement requiring this vehicle’s occupants and anyone in the household to self-quarantine for 14 days.
“Failure to sign or comply with the agreement may result in further enforcement measures,” the notice stated.
The notices were placed on the cars of people who attended services inside the church and those who remained in their cars to listen to the service on loudspeakers that had been placed in the parking lot, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit says state troopers did not enter the church.
The pastor received a quarantine letter at his home Wednesday, the suit states.
The church’s sanctuary seats 700 people, but Sunday’s service was attended by only “a small group,” all of whom maintained social distancing, according to the lawsuit.
“On that same Sunday, the parking lots of Kroger, Walmart, liquors stores and other commercial operations within minutes of the church were packed with cars,” according to a news release from Liberty Counsel, which filed the suit on behalf of the church. “These businesses were jammed with people. Not one received a quarantine notice. Gov. Beshear targeted churchgoers parked in a church parking lot to intimidate and isolate them.”
The suit says the church wants to be able to meet “so long as they comply with the same social distancing and personal hygiene recommendations pursuant to which the Commonwealth allows so-called ‘life-sustaining’ commercial and non-religious entities (e.g., beer, wine,and liquor stores, warehouse clubs, and supercenters) to accommodate large gatherings of persons without numerical limit.”
“Churches have a constitutional right to meet and the First Amendment does not disappear during a crisis,” Mat Staver, the founder and chairman of the Liberty Counsel, said in the release. “Governor Beshear has clearly targeted this church and violated these church members’ religious freedom. The only reason these people were given notices is because they were in a church parking lot. Had they parked in the nearby shopping center they would not have been targeted. This is clearly Gov. Andy Beshear’s discriminating against churches.”
Staver told the Courier-Journal earlier this week that the firm is representing the church for free.
It’s at least the second lawsuit challenging Beshear’s authority to force people who attended the service at Maryville Baptist into quarantine.
On Tuesday, three people who attended the service filed a federal lawsuit against Beshear, Boone County Attorney Robert Neace and acting Secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services Eric Friedlander, alleging that their rights to freedom of religion and travel have been violated. They are seeking class-action status.
On Fire Christian Center in Louisville filed a lawsuit against Mayor Greg Fischer ahead of last weekend’s church services, arguing that attempts to prevent drive-in church services were unconstitutional. A judge granted the church a temporary restraining order allowing it to go ahead with services in its parking lot.
On Saturday, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced that he was filing an amicus brief in support of On Fire in which he argues that Beshear’s order prohibits drive-in church services in violation of the constitution.
“The ability of Americans to worship is one of the bedrocks of our constitutional structure, and without it, we would not be the nation we are,” Cameron said in a news release. “Arbitrarily targeting the practice of religion, as the Beshear administration’s order does, plainly violates the First Amendment. As long as business operations are allowed to continue during the pandemic while following social distancing guidelines, churches must be allowed to hold drive-in services without fear of targeting from their elected leaders.”
Beshear said in a briefing April 6 that he supported local officials who sought to stop drive-in services in areas that had been hard-hit by the coronavirus. In areas where local officials had not prohibited drive-in services, Beshear urged attendees to “just make sure that you stay inside that car.”
Attorneys for the Liberty Counsel are asking Maryville Baptist’s case be handled by the same judge as On Fire’s lawsuit, saying they involve “substantial common questions of law and fact.”
This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 7:04 PM.
