Justice Department sides with Virginia church in dispute over lockdown orders
Source: CBS
Washington — The Justice Department is siding with a Virginia church challenging Governor Ralph Northam's executive orders limiting in-person gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic, which the church says unfairly applies to houses of worship and other religious institutions.
Federal prosecutors submitted the statement of interest in support of Lighthouse Fellowship Church in Chincoteague Island, Virginia, on Sunday. The church filed a lawsuit in federal district court challenging Northam's orders in federal court after its pastor received a citation and summons for holding a 16-person service in early April.
Lighthouse Fellowship Church maintains that its congregants followed social distancing guidelines in the 225-seat church and personal-hygiene protocols. The church argues the orders issued by Northam violate the First Amendment by improperly restricting religious gatherings at houses of worship while allowing comparable secular gatherings to continue unimpeded.
"The United States believes that the church has set forth a strong case that the orders, by exempting other activities permitting similar opportunities for in-person gatherings of more than 10 individuals, while at the same time prohibiting churches from gathering in groups of more than 10 — even with social distancing measures and other precautions — has impermissibly interfered with the church's free exercise of religion," the Justice Department said in its filing.
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/justice-department-sides-with-virginia-church-in-dispute-over-lockdown-orders/ar-BB13zwQn?li=BBnb7Kz
Old Billy Barr
= new reply since forum marked as read
FUCK THEM ALL!!! BARR FIRST!! 
