Posted on 04/16/2020 5:46:26 PM PDT by marshmallow
William Barr reaffirms constitutional rights amid pandemic
WASHINGTON (ChurchMilitant.com) - The nation's top justice official is warning state leaders not to target Americans of faith amid the pandemic.
In a statement issued Monday, Attorney General William P. Barr affirmed that "Religious institutions must not be singled out for special burdens."
Barr's statement is being met with applause by First Amendment advocates.
General Counsel Mike Berry of First Liberty Institute (FLI) — an organization that assists in legal battles over religious freedom — told Church Militant, "Attorney General Barr's strong statement of support for religious liberty, even during these unique circumstances, makes clear that our constitutional rights cannot be suspended by a pandemic."
Berry added FLI and its clients are "grateful to have an attorney general who understands that there is an appropriate way to balance public health with religious freedom."
Barr stated that "government may not impose special restrictions on religious activity that do not also apply to similar nonreligious activity."
He elaborated: "If a government allows movie theaters, restaurants, concert halls and other comparable places of assembly to remain open and unrestricted, it may not order houses of worship to close, limit their congregation size or otherwise impede religious gatherings."
Barr made clear the necessity of President Trump's guidelines, which call on "all Americans to do their part to slow the spread of a dangerous and highly contagious virus. Those measures are important because the virus is transmitted so easily from person to person, and because it all too often has life-threatening consequences for its victims, it has the potential to overwhelm health care systems when it surges."
(Excerpt) Read more at churchmilitant.com ...
A sternly worded letter is in order!
BTTT!
AG Barr - all talk, no action.
Let’s see a few 18 USC 242 prosecutions of the offending cops and their overseers.
Might get a bit more attention then a little lecture.
The churches that don’t meet go on line. Google just banned a church from going on line using their app.
The Attorney General is suitably appalled. Very impressive.
/sarc
Yes, a sternly-worded letter will do so much good— for Deep State Barr. He looks like he “cares” about Christians, and he doesn’t really inflict any penalties on his friends, the Deep Blue mayors and governors. It’s a win-win— for Deep State Barr and his Deep Blue friends. For us Christians, it’s meaningless. Pretty much like the 1st Amendment.
Looking forward to the crackdown.
Uh huh Barr. You have no teeth in what you say.
No one is stopping them from worshiping except a few hot to trot cops who were obviously wrong.
Masks and gloves and distancing is in order for church members.
Maybe Barr can also address how healthy citizens no longer have the right to assemble. Quarantine laws are meant for those that the govt can prove are sick and represent a danger to public health. How about telling these feeble minded Governors to obey the Constitution they swore to defend? Our country is lost.
Mayor McCheese won’t even indict proven DNC criminals. Yeah Barr all bagpipe, no bite!
And ALL the governors will be good little boys and girls and obey the Attorney General.
We DO know that they CAN read.
The churches that WON’T have any legal grounds for these lawsuits are the ones that capitulated without a fight.
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