Three Kentuckians who attended an Easter church service in Hillview, Ky., against state orders on mass gatherings have filed a federal lawsuit alleging Gov. Andy Beshear’s coronavirus measures violate their constitutional rights.
Written by Mark Maynard of Kentucky Today
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday against Beshear, Boone County Attorney Robert Neace and acting Secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services Eric Friedlander, according to court records. The suit is seeking class-action status.
The plaintiffs in the case are Randall Daniel of Shepherdsville; T.J. Roberts of Burlington; and Sally O’Boyle of Morehead who claim they received notices to quarantine after attending Maryville Baptist Church on Sunday.
“They each did so pursuant to sincerely held religious beliefs that in-person church attendance was required, particularly on Easter Sunday,” according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Covington. The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from northern Kentucky and Cincinnati.
On March 19, Beshear issued a ban on all mass gatherings including sporting events, concerts, parades, festivals and religious services. He said prior to Easter weekend that churchgoers who didn’t follow the ban would be identified through their license plates and told to self-quarantine for two weeks.
Maryville Baptist Church held an in-person Easter service Sunday morning despite the state order banning the mass gatherings. Beshear said during his Monday briefing that only one mass gathering in the state violated his order.
“In his evening briefings, the Governor made clear that he was going to target religious services for these notices, apart from other gatherings. Based on the activity of the Kentucky State Police on April 12, 2020, the Governor carried out his threat,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit says Roberts, Daniel and O’Boyle “ensured appropriate social distancing” and followed other steps in accordance with Centers for Disease Control guidelines, such as sitting six feet away from others and wearing masks. The suit also said no one at the service had been diagnosed with COVID-19 and it didn’t appear anyone with the illness was in attendance.
The suit said there were “numerous exceptions” to the state orders not being enforced at retail stores, factories and other places that remain open and “where far more people come into closer contact with less oversight.”
The plaintiffs claim their constitutional right to the “free exercise of their religion” is being violated and that the state’s action “specifically and explicitly targeted in-person religious gatherings.”
The plaintiffs claim they are being deprived of due process because there is no process to appeal the quarantine and other orders.
The lawsuit seeks a court declaration that challenges the COVID-19 orders as unconstitutional and that the court issue “permanent injunctive relief to prohibit enforcement of the challenged orders.”
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Cross-posted with permission from Kentucky Today.