Liberty Counsel won an emergency injunction Saturday, May 2 from a unanimous three-judge panel on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals prohibiting the enforcement of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s March 19 and 25 COVID-19 orders against church services at Maryville Baptist Church and its pastor Dr. Jack Roberts. The…
Another church sues Kentucky over ban on in-person services; AG requests to join
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaks to churchgoers. A church in Kentucky has filed a lawsuit in federal court against Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear and a top health official over orders prohibiting in-person services, even though the church has put in place social distancing precautions. Tabernacle Baptist Church of Nicholasville filed…
Andrew L. Seidel: Stimulus bailout for religious entities is unconstitutional
Juan Altamirano climbs to the roof of The Church of the Annunciation while painting the exterior Wednesday, April 8, 2020, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Lurking within the recently passed congressional stimulus package is a constitutional violation that virtually guarantees massive fraud and abuse. Churches, houses of worship and…
The Peoples’ Constitution: COVID-19 versus Freedom
The COVID-19 pandemic is threatening many of our most cherished freedoms. We are told by the government not to travel. We are told we can’t gather for religious services. We are told we must wear masks, but we must not go to restaurants or stores. Our favorite sporting events, school…
Court rules for church against KY governor
Liberty Counsel won an emergency injunction Saturday, May 2 from a unanimous three-judge panel on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals prohibiting the enforcement of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s March 19 and 25 COVID-19 orders against church services at Maryville Baptist Church and its pastor Dr. Jack Roberts. The…
Jim Dey | Governor wins Round 1 of religious-services fight
Targeted with a “cease and desist order” and fearing criminal or civil actions, officials at the Beloved Church in northern Illinois’ Stevenson County filed a federal lawsuit accusing the state of violating members’ First Amendment right to religious freedom by banning church services. The Rev. Steve Cassell, represented by the…
Governor’s executive orders violate our freedoms
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” If all public and private…
Confusing church and state is more baffling than ‘gay marriage’
Editor’s note: This letter is in response to the column, published April 29, 2020. To start, arguing that “marriage has always had a religious tradition” is not entirely accurate. Marriage has existed in every known human culture in history, and predates every major religion practiced today. In ancient Mesopotamia, a…
Court rules for church against KY governor
Liberty Counsel won an emergency injunction Saturday, May 2 from a unanimous three-judge panel on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals prohibiting the enforcement of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s March 19 and 25 COVID-19 orders against church services at Maryville Baptist Church and its pastor Dr. Jack Roberts. The…
SCOTUS Set to Consider Whether Nuns Can Opt Out of Obamacare’s Contraceptive Mandate
The Supreme Court of the United States will be holding another round of live streamed telephonic oral arguments on Wednesday. This time, the court will consider a controversial section of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania and Trump…
Justice Department sides with Virginia church in dispute over state’s lockdown orders
Washington (CBS News)— The Justice Department is siding with a Virginia church challenging Governor Ralph Northam’s executive orders limiting in-person gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic, which the church says unfairly applies to houses of worship and other religious institutions. Federal prosecutors submitted the statement of interest in support of Lighthouse…
Court Weighs in on Applying Mass Gathering Ban to Ky. Churches
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A federal appeals court on Saturday declined to block the Kentucky governor’s temporary ban on massing gatherings from applying to in-person religious services. The three-judge panel did clear the way for Maryville Baptist Church to hold drive-in worship services while adhering to public health requirements. That’s…
DOJ files statement of interest in church suit against Virginia governor
(Shutterstock via CNA) The Justice Department (DOJ) is backing a small community church suing Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, arguing that the state cannot single out churches for public health restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic. Lighthouse Fellowship Church on Virginia’s Eastern Shore filed suit last week against Northam’s stay-at-home order prohibiting…
Justice Dept. argues Virginia stay-at-home order interfered with church’s free exercise of religion
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is siding with a Virginia church that filed a lawsuit against the state over Gov. Ralph Northam’s (D) stay-at-home order restricting in-person religious services to no more than 10 people amid the coronavirus outbreak. The Lighthouse Fellowship Church, a congregation in Chincoteague, Va., filed the…
Court Weighs In on Applying Mass Gathering Ban to Churches
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal appeals court on Saturday declined to block the Kentucky governor’s temporary ban on massing gatherings from applying to in-person religious services. The three-judge panel did clear the way for Maryville Baptist Church to hold drive-in worship services while adhering to public health requirements. That’s an…
Court weighs in on applying mass gathering ban to churches
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal appeals court on Saturday declined to block the Kentucky governor’s temporary ban on massing gatherings from applying to in-person religious services. The three-judge panel did clear the way for Maryville Baptist Church to hold drive-in worship services while adhering to public health requirements. That’s an…
Court weighs in on applying mass gathering ban to churches | Charlotte Observer
A federal appeals court on Saturday declined to block the Kentucky governor’s temporary ban on massing gatherings from applying to in-person religious services. The three-judge panel did clear the way for Maryville Baptist Church to hold drive-in worship services while adhering to public health requirements. That’s an alternative that Democratic…
Gov. JB Pritzker’s Extended Stay-At-Home Order Allows Small Religious Gatherings As ‘Essential Activities’
CHICAGO (CBS) — As the governor faces a lawsuit from a northwest Illinois church claiming his original stay-at-home mandate “flagrantly violated the fundamental religious liberties of Illinoisans,” his extended executive order now allows “free exercise of religion” as an essential activity. Gov. JB Pritzker issued an extended stay-at-home order Thursday…
Gov. JB Pritzker’s Extended Stay-At-Home Order Allows Small Religious Gatherings As ‘Essential Activities’
CHICAGO (CBS) — As the governor faces a lawsuit from a northwest Illinois church claiming his original stay-at-home mandate “flagrantly violated the fundamental religious liberties of Illinoisans,” his extended executive order now allows “free exercise of religion” as an essential activity. Gov. JB Pritzker issued an extended stay-at-home order Thursday…
Denver Judge Keeps Birthday Cake Lawsuit in the Oven
Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips decorates a cake inside his store in Lakewood, Colo., on March 10, 2014. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File) DENVER (CN) — A Denver judge denied a Christian baker’s motion to dismiss a discrimination lawsuit filed against him after he refused to make a birthday cake commemorating…
Denver Judge Keeps Birthday Cake Lawsuit in the Oven
Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips decorates a cake inside his store in Lakewood, Colo., on March 10, 2014. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File) DENVER (CN) — A Denver judge denied a Christian baker’s motion to dismiss a discrimination lawsuit filed against him after he refused to make a birthday cake commemorating…
Two California legal firms advise pastors on how and when to re-open churches
By Michael Hernandez CHINO HILLS—Senior attorneys for two California legal firms—Tyler and Bursch and the Pacific Justice Institute shared their legal expertise today on a zoom conference hosted by Chino Hills Calvary Pastor Jack Hibbs on “How and When to Re-Open Churches.” “According to Gov. Galvin Newsom, we are in…
Parkersburg, Freedom from Religion Foundation seek ruling in prayer lawsuit
PARKERSBURG — Attorneys for the City of Parkersburg and the Freedom from Religion Foundation have asked a federal judge to decide a lawsuit over the recitation of the Lord’s prayer by City Council members without a hearing. Both sides submitted a joint stipulation of facts to U.S. District Judge for…
Gov. Kelly strikes court deal with two churches, hints at easing coronavirus shutdown
The governor and two churches that sued over a stay-at-home order have reached a temporary truce in a case that entangles the coronavirus outbreak with issues of religious liberties. Wichita, Kansas — Gov. Laura Kelly filed a joint motion this weekend with two churches suing her over stay-at-home orders, signaling…
Federal judge says Mississippi church can hold drive-in services
Mississippi state leaders plan to sue Chinese government over coronavirus outbreak Get all the latest news on coronavirus and more delivered daily to your inbox. Sign up here . A federal judge in Mississippi ruled Friday that the First Pentecostal Church of Holly Springs can stay open for drive-in services…