First, via Politico,
The U.S. Department of Justice warned Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday that California must do more to accommodate in-person religious gatherings.Newsom's pattern so far has been what we see here, to tease easing unspecified restrictions "in the coming weeks", then to do so only in remote counties, while allowing the most urban areas to continue with even more restrictive orders from local health authorities. The judges in California, part of the political machine, permit this. It's likely the only thing that will end Newsom's passive-aggressiveness, and the stubbornness of other governors like Pritzger, will be a broad-based national reopening that will force their hands.A letter from federal attorneys pointed to “civil rights concerns” around California’s stay-at-home order, which since March has prohibited the faithful from assembling at houses of worship. The Department of Justice noted that religious services are barred even as sectors of the economy deemed “essential” have been allowed to remain open.
“This facially discriminates against religious exercise,” the letter says. “California has not shown why interactions in offices and studios of the entertainment industry, and in-person operations to facilitate nonessential ecommerce, are included on the list as being allowed with social distancing where telework is not practical, while gatherings with social distancing for purposes of religious worship are forbidden, regardless of whether remote worship is practical or not.”
. . . Newsom said this week that the state could greenlight in-person worship in the coming weeks as infection, testing and hospitalization numbers improve.
. . . California’s halt on religious services has already prompted legal battles and defiant stands from faith leaders who have kept their churches open. Federal judges have so far rejected legal requests to allow their services to resume.
But the Department of Justice said those rulings “do not justify California’s actions” and asserted that “reopening plans cannot unfairly burden religious services as California has done.”
Via Liberty Counsel,
Calvary Chapel of Bangor [ME] filed an emergency injunction to the First Circuit Court of Appeals pending an appeal regarding the lawsuit against Maine Governor Janet Mills’ unconstitutional orders that discriminate against churches and prohibit in-person and drive-in worship services. Under the governor’s orders, no religious gatherings are permitted, including parking lot services.I would expect this strategy to work mainly to establish important precedents in the medium to long term going forward, but this sort of piecemeal fight won't correct much right now. It remains to be seen whether the judge in this case will issue the injunction, for example, or slow-walk the entire process.Gov. Mills said that churches will only be allowed to meet in small numbers when she is satisfied with the “metrics,” and when that happens, she will require churches to apply to re-open. Approved churches will then need to display a “badge” at the front door signifying they are approved to open. However, Gov. Mills has no process in place now to begin the approval process and no application for the churches. Even the notion that churches would have to apply to re-open and display a “badge” signifying approval is offensive to the First Amendment.
Gov. Mills has allowed so-called “essential” commercial and non-religious entities that include liquor stores, marijuana dispensaries, warehouse clubs, “big box” and “supercenter” stores to accommodate gatherings of people without threat of criminal sanctions. People may gather in these venues but not in churches. The governor’s orders also allow people to gather in secular or commercial parking lots, but not in church parking lots and listen to the pastor.
