U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove has brought a halt to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s ban on in-person church services, calling it unconstitutional, after two other courts ruled in the governor’s favor.
“The Constitution will endure,” reads the opinion. “It would be easy to put it on the shelf in times like this, to be pulled down and dusted off when more convenient. But that is not our tradition. Its enduring quality requires that it be respected even when it is hard.”
Here’s more from the AP:
His opinion says Kentucky’s attorney general urged the court to apply the injunction statewide, and since the executive order challenged didn’t solely apply to Tabernacle, the injunction granted would also have a similar scope.
“Both rulings affirm that the law prohibits the government from treating houses of worship differently than secular activities during this pandemic,” Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican, said in a statement late Friday.
As Pajamas Media notes, “those who don’t want to risk exposure will stay home; those who want to worship will go to church.”
“Citizens in Kentucky will now have the choice and not have it made for them by the state,” wrote Rick Moran on Saturday.