By Carol Vaughn —
The Virginia Attorney General’s Office filed a response in U. S. District Court in Norfolk last week in a Chincoteague church’s lawsuit against Gov. Ralph Northam, saying the harm the church experiences from not being allowed to hold worship services with more than 10 attendees “must be balanced against the catastrophic and permanent harm that others could suffer if the court grants” the request.
Lighthouse Fellowship Church filed a civil lawsuit against Northam after its pastor, Kevin Wilson, was charged by Chincoteague police with violating an executive order barring gatherings of more than 10 people, after he led a worship service attended by 16 people on April 5.
The violation is a class one misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
Attorneys for the church asked for an injunction to allow church members to gather in person, pending appeal of the Norfolk court’s decision in favor of the governor.
Such a ruling “would seriously undermine Virginia’s efforts to resist a once-in-a-century pandemic,” the Attorney General’s Office response says, adding,“The almost inevitable result of granting the requested relief would be increased transmission of a deadly disease for which there is currently no cure.”
The attorneys say the pandemic “has raised extraordinarily difficult questions for elected officials and policymakers.”
Faced with the threat, Northam “has had to make difficult decisions to slow the disease’s spread, protect public health, and save lives,” the document says, claiming restrictions on gatherings of more than 10 people imposed by his executive orders do not single out religious groups.
The document notes Accomack County has been hit particularly hard during the pandemic.
At the time it was filed, the county had the second highest case rate per 100,000 residents of any Virginia locality.
The document says religious services throughout the United States have led to outbreaks and deaths from COVID-19, giving examples including in Washington, D. C., and Chesterfield,Va., among others.
“The harm Lighthouse will experience if this court denies the requested injunction must be balanced against the catastrophic and permanent harm that others could suffer if the court grants one,” the document says.
The governor’s attorneys say none of his executive orders requires places of worship to close or blocks services with a limited number of attendees, and add that Virginia’s official coronavirus website identifies ways people may continue to practice their faith, including drive-in or livestreamed services, among others.
The document argues the 11th Amendment precludes an injunction against the governor and says the church does not have standing to challenge the orders.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a brief in support of Northam the same day.
The group argues that, although the governor’s order does temporarily limit the church’s ability to host large in-person gatherings, the church’s religious-exercise rights have not been violated.
“The virus is just as likely to spread at religious events as at nonreligious ones, so the
order applies to all gatherings equally, regardless of motivation. And the order allows faith leaders and houses of worship to continue operating under constraints similar to those that apply to other permitted activities,” the brief says, in part.
The organization says granting a religious exemption to the gathering ban would itself violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
The church is represented by attorneys from Liberty Counsel, an Orlando, Fla., group, who argue Northam has not done enough to protect religious liberty.
The U. S. Department of Justice previously file a statement of interest supporting the church.
“The United States respectfully suggests that the Court erred in its Memorandum Opinion and Order of May 1, 2020, ECF 16, denying Lighthouse’s Emergency Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction,” the statement reads, in part.
“The United States has a substantial interest in the preservation of its citizens’ fundamental right to the free exercise of religion, expressly protected by the First Amendment,” the statement also says.
The Justice Department’s statement is part of Attorney General William P. Barr’s initiative directing subordinates to ensure protection of civil liberties during the pandemic.
Barr in an April 27 memo directed Eric Dreiband, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, and Matthew Schneider, U. S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, to “be on the lookout for state and local directives that could be violating the constitutional rights and civil liberties of individual citizens.”
The statement says the Lighthouse Fellowship case “raises issues of national public importance regarding the interplay between the government’s compelling interest in protecting public health and safety from COVID-19 and citizens’ fundamental right to the free exercise of religion.”
