New Jersey's COVID-19 Ban Enforced Against Religious Life-Cycle Events

Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday published this report on enforcement in Lakewood, New Jersey of the state's COVID-19 ban on large gatherings:

Fifteen men were charged with violating Gov. Phil Murphy’s ban on large gatherings during the coronavirus crisis after they attended an Orthodox Jewish funeral Wednesday in Lakewood, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said Thursday.

The gathering was one of several in Lakewood in recent weeks in which police were called to break up large groups of people. Other events included a bat mitzvah over the weekend; four separate weddings in which four people who hosted them were charged with a disorderly person offense or with maintaining a nuisance; and a gathering of about 25 young men at a school in which the headmaster was charged with maintaining a nuisance.

Courts Grapple With State Abortion Bans In COVID-19 Responses

As previously reported, Texas and Ohio have included abortions as non-essential medical procedures which are banned to preserve resources for treatment of COVID-19 patients. Alabama has also imposed a similar ban. Wall Street Journal reports that district court judges in each of those states have blocked the bans. However yesterday in In re Abbott, (5th Cir., March 31, 2020), the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision temporarily stayed the Texas federal district court's injunction, allowing the ban on abortions to remain, at least for the time being. The state however was directed to file an initial response by 8:00 a.m. today.

Suit Challenges Colorado Stay-At-Home Order Partly On Free Exercise Grounds

A suit was filed on Monday by a pro se plaintiff in a Colorado federal district court seeking a preliminary injunction to bar enforcement of the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders issued by the state and local officials.  The complaint (full text) in Lawrence v. State of Colorado, (D CO, filed 3/30/2020) alleges in part:

As a result of the Orders listed above that restrict the gathering of more than ten people at a time, the plaintiff's parish has ceased conducting weekly Mass, has ceased offering the Eucharist, and has ceased hearing confessions. The defendants' conduct has impaired the plaintiff's ability to freely exercise his religious faith, in violation of the First Amendment.

Colorado Politics reports on the lawsuit.

Pastor Arrested For Holding Church Services In Violation of Health Department Order

AP reports that in Hernando County,  Florida, police arrested Tampa (FL) megachurch pastor Rodney Howard-Browne for holding two Sunday church services with hundreds of people in violation of a county emergency health department order to limit all gatherings to less than ten people. The pastor turned himself into authorities and he was released on $500 bond. The church claims it enforced the 6-foot distancing rule between families and took other precautions as well. Howard-Browne has said the church is an essential services and suggested he would fight the issue in court. [Thanks to Tom Rutledge for the lead.]

Suits In NY and Texas Say Stay-At-Home Orders Infringe Religious Rights

New York Post reports that a lawsuit was filed last Friday in a New York federal district court against the state of New York and Gov. Andrew Cuomo challenging the constitutionality of Cuomo's stay-at-home order imposed to limit the spread of COVID-19. Among other things, plaintiff, a Brooklyn lawyer, alleges that the ban violates his rights to free speech and to observe his Jewish faith.

A mandamus action filed in the Texas Supreme Court similarly challenges a Harris County, Texas stay-at-home order. Houston Chronicle reports that the challenge filed by three pastors and a conservative Republican activist claims that the order violates the 1st Amendment by ordering the closure of churches and also violates the Constitution by failing to classify gun shops as essential businesses.

UPDATE: Here is the full text of the complaint in the Texas case, In re Hotze, (TX Sup. Ct., filed 3/30/2020).

UPDATE 2: Front Porch News reports on an April 21 updated version of Texas' “Guidance to Houses of Worship During the COVID-19 Crisis.”

Texas and Ohio COVID-19 Limits On Elective Medical Procedures Include Elective Abortions

Texas Tribune reports:

Citing the need to preserve health care capacity for COVID-19 patients, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Monday that abortions should not be performed unless the mother's life is in danger.

The warning comes one day after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered health care facilities and professionals to postpone all procedures that are deemed “not medically necessary” as the state gears up for an influx of patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

The attorney general said that the order, set to expire April 21, should also be interpreted to cover abortion clinics in the state.

Here is the Attorney General's press release.

New York Times reports that Ohio imposed a similar ban last week.

Britain Moves To Coronavirus Closures, Including Churches

Yesterday in Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced stay-at-home restrictions for the country to combat the spread of COVID-19. He said in part:

To ensure compliance with the Government’s instruction to stay at home, we will immediately: .... we’ll stop all social events​, including weddings, baptisms and other ceremonies, but excluding funerals.

The Church of England quickly announced that all of its churches would close immediately. [Thanks to Law & Religion UK for the lead.]

Ohio Stay-At-Home Order Exempts Religious Gatherings

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine yesterday announced a statewide stay-at-home order designed to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The Order (full text) requires all persons to stay at home unless engaged in "essential" work, activity or travel. Among the list of essential operations that may continue is:

Religious facilities, entities and groups and religious gatherings, including weddings and funerals.

The Order takes effect at 11:59 pm today.  Business Insider reports on the governor's action.

Michigan Houses of Worship Exempted From Penalties For Violating COVID-19 Executive Order

On March 17, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued Executive Order 2020-11 (COVID-19) which banned assemblages of more than 50 people in a single indoor shared space, with limited exceptions. None of the exceptions related to houses of worship.  However is an FAQs posting later in the week, the state said that while places of worship are covered, they are exempt from the penalty provisions that make willful violations of the ban a misdemeanor.  Detroit Free Press reports on the developments.

New Hampshire Governor Sued Over Ban On Large Gatherings

One News Now reports that a lawsuit was filed yesterday in a New Hampshire state trial court challenging the Governor's COVID19- inspired emergency ban on gatherings of 50 or more people. The three plaintiffs argue that there is no emergency and that the ban violates their constitutional rights. Among the gatherings that plaintiffs wish to visit are religious services and Sunday school at a Baptist church. The court refused to issue an immediate temporary restraining order and scheduled a hearing for Friday.

HHS Sued Over Non-Enforcement of LGBTQ Anti-Discrimination Rules

As previously reported, last November the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced actions that effectively allow agencies receiving HHS grants to refuse to serve gay, lesbian and transgender individuals and families on religious grounds. First, HHS issued a Notice of Non-Enforcement of  rules adopted in 2016 that prohibit such discrimination. HHS then issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would repromulgate the rules with narrower anti-discrimination protections. Yesterday, a lawsuit was filed in a New York federal district court challenging the legality of the Notice of Non-Enforcement.

The complaint (full text) in Family Equality v. Azar, (SD NY, filed 3/19/2020) contends that the Notice of Non-Enforcement violates the Administrative Procedure Actin three ways. It was promulgated without notice-and-comment rule making. It was based on a mistaken determination that the 2016 original non-discrimination rule did not comply with the Regulatory Flexibility
Act. HHS failed to consider alternative remedies, the costs and benefits of their decision, and the public interest.  Lambda Legal issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit, saying in part:

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread rapidly throughout the U.S., LGBTQ individuals of all ages are left vulnerable by the Trump administration’s illegal action, which implicitly permits discrimination when providing critical services.

USCIRF Fact Sheet On COVID-19's Impact on Religious Freedom

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has issued a new Fact Sheet titled: The Global Response to the Coronavirus: Impact on Religious Practice and Religious Freedom.

White House Briefs New York's Orthodox Rabbis On COVID-19 Precautions

Jerusalem Post and Jewish Insider report that the White House yesterday held a conference call with 15 leading Orthodox rabbis in the New York area to encourage them to follow the White House guidelines designed to prevent the further spread of COVID-19. The call was conducted by Avi Berkowitz, an Orthodox Jew who is an assistant to the President. More than 100 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in New York's Orthodox Jewish Borough Park neighborhood. After the call, the Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, ordered all synagogues and Jewish schools in the largely Hasidic village of Kiryas Joel to close.

Supreme Court Postpones Oral Arguments For Public Health Reasons

The U.S. Supreme Court announced yesterday that it is postponing oral arguments currently scheduled for it March session because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Included in the cases postponed are Tanzin v. Tanvir (availability of money damages under RFRA) and the consolidated arguments in two cases involving the scope of the Ministerial Exception doctrine (Our Lady of Guadalupe v. Morrissey-Berru and St. James School v. Biel). The Court's press release added:

The Court’s postponement of argument sessions in light of public health concerns is not unprecedented.  The Court postponed scheduled arguments for October 1918 in response to the Spanish flu epidemic.  The Court also shortened its argument calendars in August 1793 and August 1798 in response to yellow fever outbreaks.

President Calls For Day of Prayer For Protection and Strength

In a Tweet issued yesterday President Donald Trump said:

It is my great honor to declare Sunday March 15 as a National Day of Prayer. We are a Country that, throughout our history, looked to God for protection and strength in times like these. No matter where you may be, I encourage you to turn towards prayer in an act of faith. Together we will easily PREVAIL!

However, no formal Presidential Proclamation on the day of prayer appears on the White House website. Fox News reports on the President's statement.

New Website On Law, Religion and COVID-19

A new website-- Religion, Law and COVID-19 Emergency has been created by a group of faculty at the University of Bari (Italy). Here is their description of the coverage they seek to include:

The health emergency caused by the contagious virus Covid-19 is having many consequences also on religious rules – more broadly for the difficulties raising from the possible contradiction between the respect for the measures taken by civil authorities and religious rules. International law allows for the limitation˝ of the right to religious freedom on the grounds of protection of public health, and we are witnessing a situation of unprecedented restrictions on the global scale. As scholars engaged in the study of the legal regulation of the religious phenomenon, we have wanted to create a space to collect documents, comments and other useful materials related to the emergency, in order to assess the outcomes of the normative choices made by civil and religious authorities.

Some Louisville Religious Leaders Question Governor's Call For Halt To Services To Combat Coronavirus

In order to slow the spread of COVID-19, officials in various parts of the United States, as well as in a number of other countries, have encouraged or required cancellation of gatherings of large numbers of persons.  These have often specifically included a call for cancellation of religious services.  For the most part, churches and synagogues have cooperated with these government requests. However, the reaction yesterday of some religious leaders in Louisville, Kentucky to a request (full text) by Governor Andy Beshear raises in a new context a possible clash between government mandated health measures and religious rights.  The Louisville Courier Journal reports:

... [T]he request has caused confusion for congregations citywide, with some seeing it as an affront to their religions.

"Places that at one time seemed safe and sacred are now being called out as viral threats," the Interdenominational Ministerial Coalition said in a statement Wednesday. "The sanctity of church is needed during this uncertain time."....

The Rev. Stephen Smith adamantly said Portland Memorial Missionary Baptist Church will not cancel services for its 800 members. "You're not closing grocery stores, you're not closing gas stations, so no — we're not closing anything," Smith said.... 

"If we tried to shut the [Lenten] fish fry down we'd have a protest in the street," Smith said. "These people are going to come and get their fish; they're not thinking about a virus."...

... [T]he Archdiocese of Louisville.... issued a statement saying that it would not call for a cancellation of daily or weekend Masses.

"The Sunday celebration of the Eucharist is at the center of the life of the Church," the statement read. "Perhaps especially in difficult times, liturgical gatherings are a source of comfort and hope for the faithful, as well as an opportunity to offer our prayers to God for those who are suffering or who cannot be with us."

"At the same time, it is important – especially for those who are ill, feel vulnerable, or feel afraid – to be able to exercise individual discretion in light of this situation."