Court halts KS governor from targeting churches in COVID-19 order

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Ryan Tucker regarding a federal district court’s decision Saturday to issue a temporary restraining order requested by ADF attorneys on behalf of two Kansas churches against a provision of Gov. Laura Kelly’s COVID-19 mass gathering ban that unconstitutionally treats religious congregations different from many secular gatherings:

“Singling out churches for special punishment while allowing others to have greater freedom is both illogical and unconstitutional. We’re pleased that the court halted the governor from subjecting our clients to that type of targeting and agreed that the churches are likely to prevail on their claim that doing so violates the First Amendment. The order specifies that our clients are to abide by their own proposed, rigorous social distancing practices for the time being while our case continues in court, which these churches are obviously happy to do, since they proposed those rules themselves for everyone’s health and safety. In light of the court’s order, we hope the governor will act quickly to remedy the unconstitutional provision of her mass gathering ban and avoid the need for continued litigation.”

ADF attorneys filed the motion for temporary restraining order when it filed the lawsuit First Baptist Church v. Kelly on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.