The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday warned California’s governor that his COVID-19 restrictions discriminated against places of worship by preventing them from meeting while businesses and film studios are allowed to carry on working.
In a three-page letter to Governor Gavin Newsom, the DOJ said the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution required churches and other houses of worship be given equal treatment under the law, even when a health emergency has been declared.
“Simply put, there is no pandemic exception to the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights,” Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband wrote in the letter.
A spokesman for Newsom, asked for comment, said only that the governor’s office had received the DOJ letter.
California has one of the strictest stay-at-home orders still in place in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The governor’s four-stage plan allows each of California’s 58 counties to gradually open based on the number of tests, cases, hospitalizations and deaths, among other factors.
Newsom this week eased restrictions for some counties, making it easier for them to move toward reopening retail stores and restaurants for sit-down dining. He said the state was in discussions with major sports leagues about resuming play.
The governor said some workers may begin returning to offices where working from home was not practical, including the entertainment industry in a list of businesses exempted from restrictions.
“California has not shown why interactions in offices and studios of the entertainment industry, and in-person operations to facilitate nonessential ecommerce, are included on the list as being allowed with social distancing where telework is not practical, while gatherings with social distancing for purposes of religious worship are forbidden, regardless of whether remote worship is practical or not,” the DOJ said in its letter to Newsom.
The above comes from a May 19 Reuters story.
Our non-Catholic President understands religious liberty better than our Catholic Governor. Maybe it’s because Mr. Trump did not go to a Catholic university like Santa Clara University.
What do we know for sure? Covid-19 is most easily spread from one person to another, which means that we should stay a reasonable distance from anyone who is not in our cohort of “safe” people. Opening the churches has little to do with religious freedom and a lot to do with crowds. Those who use “freedom” as a reason for flaunting public health recommendations are very inconsiderate of others, and potentially putting themselves in danger. We should not put ourselves in a position where we might breathe on other people. Why does a person want to potentially be the cause of another person’s death? So far, we are well north of 90,000 deaths caused by the virus.
Of course, we should strive for safety. Yet, it is a religious liberty issue. I encourage you to read what the Catholic bishops of Minnesota wrote when defying their governor’s 10 person limit. It’s at http://stcdio.org/may-20-2020-minnesota-bishops-letter/. They are providing public Masses at 30 percent capacity of their churches, with safeguards. That’s totally reasonable when the government is allowing restaurants and casinos to open at 50 percent capacity. What’s unsafe about equitable treatment? The bishops have also extended the dispensation of the obligation to attend Mass, especially for the elderly and those with underlying health conditions. I know of no Catholics leaders who are encouraging us to crowd together, hold hands or have a group hug. But, we do have freedom to pray, assemble and worship together. Bob One, you don’t have to go to church and you can wear a mask to protect others, if not yourself.
By late March, it was apparent this was nothing like the Black Death … not even close.
Depriving healthy citizens of their right to earn their daily bread, and depriving healthy parishioners of the sacraments was/is truly diabolical.
It’s not complicated. If you have symptoms of infection, or if you fear getting infected, then stay home. Everyone else … go and live a holy life.