A second lawsuit has been filed accusing Governor Beshear of violating the first amendment rights of churchgoers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Maryville Baptist Church in Louisville, which held in-person services despite warnings from the Governor, and its pastor, Jack Roberts, filed the suit Friday in Louisville’s U.S. district Court. saying they have been “irreparably injured and explicitly targeted, singled out, and punished for participating in a religious or ‘faith-based’ gathering.”
Governor Beshear has said he is “not concerned” about the lawsuit and said the church had other options for worshipping including holding online or drive-up services.
Governor Beshear also questioned whether the church followed social distancing guidelines on that Easter Sunday.
“God gives us wisdom, and virtually all of our faith leaders are leading with that wisdom,” the governor said.
On Saturday, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced that he was filing an amicus brief in support of On Fire Christian Center, a group which previously filed a lawsuit against Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer prior to last weekend’s services.
That suit ended with the judge granting the group a temporary restraining order which allowed services to be held in the parking lot.
Attorney General Cameron argues that Governor Beshear’s order prohibits drive-in church services in violation of the First Amendment.
“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.”
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.”