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Justice Department Calls on San Francisco Mayor to End “One Congregant” Rule for Places of Worship to Comply with the Constitution
justice.gov ^ | September 25, 2020 | Department of Justice

Posted on 09/25/2020 8:31:05 PM PDT by ransomnote

The Justice Department today sent a letter to San Francisco mayor explaining that the city’s policy of only allowing a single worshiper in places of worship regardless of their size, while allowing multiple patrons in other indoor settings including gyms, tattoo parlors, hair salons, massage studios, and daycares, is contrary to the Constitution and the nation’s best tradition of religious freedom.

The letter, sent by Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Eric Dreiband and U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, David Anderson, explains that San Francisco’s policy of treating secular businesses more favorably than houses of worship is “wholly at odds with this nation’s traditional understanding of religious liberty, and may violate the First Amendment,” and calls on the mayor to take action to treat places of worship equally with other venues where people share enclosed spaces.

“No government in this free country can attack religion by transforming a house of worship arbitrarily into a place for solitary confinement. People of faith go to churches, synagogues, mosques, and other places to worship with their fellow believers, and they can do so lawfully because the First Amendment to the United States Constitution makes illegal any effort by government to prohibit the free exercise of religion,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband. “That we are dealing with a very serious public health crisis does not permit government to discriminate against religious worshipers by imposing a one-person-per-house-of-worship rule while permitting larger numbers of people to gather in tattoo parlors, hair salons, massage studios, and other places. There is no pandemic exception to the United States Constitution and its Bill of Rights.” 

While continuing to enforce the one-congregant rule, San Francisco allows patrons at gyms, hair and nail salons, tattoo parlors, and massage studios so long as 6-foot distancing is followed. Gyms are allowed to open at 10 percent of capacity, daycares to operate with 10 to 12 children per class, and retail establishments generally can operate at 50 percent of capacity. 

The letter calls on the city to immediately equalize its treatment of places of worship to comply with the First Amendment.

On April 27, 2020, Attorney General William P. Barr directed Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Eric Dreiband, and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Matthew Schneider, to review state and local policies to ensure that civil liberties are protected during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Attachment(s): 
Topic(s): 
Civil Rights
Component(s): 
Press Release Number: 
20-1005


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Religion
KEYWORDS: antichristian; constitution; homofascism; leftistbigots

1 posted on 09/25/2020 8:31:05 PM PDT by ransomnote
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To: ransomnote

No surprise that Satan’s doxie, “Granny WineBox” Pelosi, hasn’t said word one about this Satanist plot...


2 posted on 09/25/2020 8:48:28 PM PDT by kiryandil (Chris Wallace: Because someone has to drive the Clown Car)
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To: ransomnote

l8r


3 posted on 09/25/2020 9:12:44 PM PDT by preacher ( Journalism no longer reports news, they use news to shape our society.)
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To: ransomnote

Could somebody explain why these politicians are not just shot


4 posted on 09/25/2020 9:34:38 PM PDT by genghis
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To: ransomnote
thanQ this really is as much, if not more, a 14th amendment issue ???

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

whacked on all 3...
5 posted on 09/25/2020 9:46:28 PM PDT by stylin19a ( 2016 - Best.Election.Of.All.Times.Ever.In.The.History.Of.Ever)
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To: ransomnote

Something stronger than a letter needed to be delivered. Action should have been in March when the restrictions were put in place. There never should have been a national shutdown.


6 posted on 09/25/2020 9:52:34 PM PDT by moviefan8
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To: moviefan8

There never should have been a national shutdown.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

The voting public would never have seen the true fascist face of the Dem governors, so eager to control the public, violate their constitutional rights, rob them of freedom while chiding them with fake righteousness, cultivate and protect rioters. The public had to see the truth before Nov 3.


7 posted on 09/25/2020 10:00:55 PM PDT by ransomnote (IN GOD WE TRUST)
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To: ransomnote

Are there anymore of those FBI SWAT teams that hauled Roger Stone and his wife out of their home, while barefoot during a freezing February night, while the CNN cameras rolled?

I'd prefer those to the Strongly Worded Letter.

8 posted on 09/26/2020 3:29:40 AM PDT by SkyPilot ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6)
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To: ransomnote
From April and in a different case and jurisdiction, but the judge's decision is well worth the read.

For Easter, a federal judge wrote a luminous decision defending religious liberty

9 posted on 09/26/2020 3:58:57 AM PDT by mewzilla (Break out the mustard seeds.)
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