Justice Department backs Mississippi church suing to host drive-in services
Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday threw the weight of the Justice Department behind a Mississippi church that is suing to overturn a municipal order that prohibits drive-in church services during the coronavirus pandemic.
The department filed court documents in support of the Temple Baptist Church in Greenville, Mississippi, which has filed a lawsuit claiming discrimination because of restrictions that apply to churches but not businesses such as restaurants in the town.
At issue are restrictions that the church says prohibit holding its services, during which a pastor broadcasts via low-power FM radio from inside an empty church to congregation members sitting in their cars in the parking lot. According to the church’s lawyers, the same rules don’t apply to a drive-in restaurant in the town.
Last week a federal judge in Kentucky struck down restrictions on churches in Louisville, allowing drive-in church services for Easter.
Barr, who last week in a Fox News interview called current stay-at-home orders “draconian,” issued a statement Tuesday that struck a different tone, expressing support for the federal guidelines that have encouraged cities and states to help control the virus’ spread by closing businesses and keeping residents at home.
“Scrupulously observing these guidelines is the best path to swiftly ending Covid-19’s profound disruptions to our national life and resuming the normal economic life of our country,” Barr said. “Citizens who seek to do otherwise are not merely assuming risk with respect to themselves, but are exposing others to danger.”
But at the same time, Barr said the department has an interest in protecting religious freedom and making sure religious institutions aren’t singled out with special burdens in the restrictions.
“The city appears to have thereby singled churches out as the only essential service (as designated by the state of Mississippi) that may not operate despite following all CDC and state recommendations regarding social distancing,” Barr said.
