![]() ![]() Constitution.įor example, in 1905 in Jacobson v. The scholarly consensus appears to be that states and localities have the right to take actions consistent with their state police powers over matters of local health and welfare, which are recognized by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. The First Amendment guarantees both the free exercise of religion and the right to peaceable assembly. Would restrictions during coronavirus violate First Amendment? Lawsuits have been filed challenging Biden’s order, including one by a group of federal workers that claims it violates First Amendment religious rights. The order allows exemptions for religious and medical reasons. More than a year and a half later, in September 2021, President Joe Biden created a vaccine requirement for employees of federal contractors and businesses with more than 100 employees, as well as for health care workers. ![]() The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on appeal. State and federal courts struck down the challenge, affirming the governor’s right to issue such orders during a health emergency. Speel filed a lawsuit against the state, saying the governor’s order was unconstitutional. He claimed that his church was helping to handle the pandemic by the laying on of hands of the sick. He was charged with two misdemeanors, but charges were later dropped.Īround the same time, a Baton Rouge, La., pastor, Tony Speel, was charged with violating the governor’s crowd-restriction order after he held Sunday morning services for well over a thousand people. Sheriff deputies arrested the pastor, the Rev. ![]() Some of these mandates have been criticized, defied and challenged by citizens who believe the government is interfering with their rights, including First Amendment rights to freely exercise their religion or peaceably assemble.įor example, at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, a Tampa evangelical pastor held church services in defiance of a local emergency order that largely banned groups of 10 or more from gathering. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)ĭuring the COVID-19 pandemic in 20, local, state and federal governmental entities and officials have ordered restrictions on gatherings and, in some cases, have required vaccines to try to lessen the spread of the virus and protect public safety. Here, an usher wipes down pews after a Sunday mass at a New Jersey Catholic church after the state eased its pandemic restrictions in June 2020. Church services have been the focal point of some religious liberty challenges to coronavirus-related restrictions on the size of gatherings. ![]()
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