From Resurrection School v. Hertel , decided yesterday by Judge Karen Nelson Moore joined by Judge Bernice Donald: Plaintiffs argue that MDHHS’s Orders violate their sincerely held religious beliefs because they require students in grades K–5 at religious schools to wear a face covering. We do not question the sincerity of Plaintiffs’ beliefs that wearing a mask in the classroom violates their Catholic faith. {Defendants Vail and Siemon contend in their brief that "Appellants do not cite to any sources to support their position that the Catholic faith or Catholic theology is in any way opposed to the use of prophylactic masks during a global pandemic," or "provide any examples of ways in which masks interfere with or burden their religious beliefs." Plaintiffs’ objections to masks admittedly are confusing and at times, digress into secular, rather than religious concerns. Nevertheless, a plaintiff’s "religious beliefs need not be acceptable, logical, consistent, or comprehensible to others in order to merit First Amendment protection."} … In the present case, the district court … correctly concluded that because the requirement to wear a facial covering applied to students in grades K–5 at both religious and non-religious schools, it was neutral and of general […]
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