A federal judge ruled Friday that Tabernacle Baptist Church in Nicholasville, Kentucky, — and churches all around the commonwealth — may hold in-person services Sunday despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Tabernacle won a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of Gov. Andy Beshear's order barring in-person church services to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Beshear's order bars also mass gatherings of more than 10 people.
"Defendants are enjoined from enforcing the prohibition on mass gatherings with respect to any in-person religious service which adheres to applicable social distancing and hygiene guidelines," U.S. District Judge Greg Van Tatenhove ruled Friday evening.
The effect of the order is limited: Beshear has said he will lift the ban on church gatherings May 20, although attendance will be limited to follow social gathering guidelines.
Two other federal judges in Kentucky — David Hale of Louisville and William Bertelsman of Covington — had previously ruled that the ban on in-person church services was constitutional.
But after the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to Hale, he also issued an injunction Friday night against enforcement of the order, pending the state's appeal.
“Judge Van Tatenhove recognized that Governor Beshear’s order unlawfully prohibits religious worship and violates the First Amendment,” said Roger Byron, senior counsel at First Liberty Institue, which represented Tabernacle. “The church will gather together for worship on Sunday with grateful hearts and observe the CDC’s guidelines to keep everyone safe and well.”
Attorneys for Tabernacle church, including a deputy of Attorney General Daniel Cameron, argued at a hearing Friday that Beshear's order discriminated against the free exercise of religion because people are allowed to shop and gather in conference rooms of law firms and other private businesses.
Tatenhove had asked during the hearing, "Why can someone safely walk down a grocery store aisle and not a pew?"
Travis Mayo, an attorney for Beshear, argued that shopping visits are “transitory” — that shoppers leave after buying milk or bread — while church services are “communal gatherings” where congregants sit near one another for an hour or more.
Background: Another Kentucky church is suing Beshear over in-person services
But Matthew Martens, a Washington lawyer for the church, said there is no time limit for shopping under Beshear’s order that allows visits to stores offering essential services.
And Van Tatenhove, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, said during the hearing that the state introduced no scientific evidence that church services are inherently more dangerous.
Beshear’s lawyers have maintained the prohibition is not discriminatory because all civic gatherings, including concerts and sporting events, are banned.
But Deputy Attorney General Barry Dunn noted that every day eight to 12 people, including reporters, gather in the governor's office for his daily briefing. He submitted photos as evidence.
Related: Here is what Kentucky houses of worship will have to do to reopen
"One First Amendment right" — freedom of the press — "can’t trump another" — freedom of religion, he argued.
Van Tatenhove granted Dunn's request to apply his ruling statewide.
In its suit filed Wednesday against Beshear, the church said it has held online and drive-in services in Jessamine County in the weeks since Beshear's administration issued a March 19 executive order that banned mass gatherings.
But lawyers for the church said its members hold a sincerely held religious belief that online services and drive-in services do not meet their belief that the church meet together in person for corporate worship.
Andrew Wolfson: 502-582-7189; awolfson@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @adwolfson. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/andreww.
Andrew Wolfson: 502-582-7189; awolfson@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @adwolfson.
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