Posted on 04/02/2020 12:26:05 PM PDT by abb
CENTRAL — A Central pastor who has defied state orders limiting public gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic plans to put the state and city police on legal notice that restrictions on places of worship violate the state and U.S. Constitution and that the governments risk a lawsuit, the pastor's lawyer said Thursday.
The Rev. Tony Spell, pastor of Life Tabernacle Church, has continued to hold in-person public services drawing hundreds to his church off Hooper Road even after Gov. John Bel Edwards ordered people to stay home and greatly limited public gatherings and other "non-essential" forms of public life and commerce in an attempt to limit the virus's spread.
East Baton Rouge Parish prosecutors filed criminal charges Wednesday against Spell. A day earlier, Central Police officers cited and arrested him on six misdemeanor counts of violating Edwards' order over a two-week period.
If convicted, Spell faces a $500 fine and up to 90 days in jail on each count.
Joe Long, a Baton Rouge lawyer who plans to enroll as the church's and Spell's attorney, said Edwards' order isn't the "least restrictive means" required under the law to protect against the pandemic when grocery stores and other services the state has deemed essential aren't held to the same standard.
"As long as there are other businesses that are out in the open and have more than 10 people, this church shall have the ability to stay open and have more than 10 people," Long said.
Long's comments came in response to a reporter's question at the tail end of a more than hourlong news conference inside Life Tabernacle Church in Central. The rally-style event, which drew Roy Moore, the former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice and conservative advocate of religious liberty causes, was held in the church's main worship area.
The church left its front doors open to allow reporters standing outside in listen in, which often was difficult. Some media organizations left after Spell initially insisted on holding the news conference indoors with a few dozen of his parishioners. Church members were taking the temperature of arriving members and using a metal detector wand.
During the event, Spell, Moore and Long addressed parishioners sitting together inside with fiery rhetoric and prayer as the event was streamed online. The men cited Bible verses, aspects of the law and episodes in U.S. history to claim that people had a right to gather in church, especially in times such as this one.
"The church is the last force that is resisting the anti-Christ from setting up his kingdom on this Earth. I say let the church be the church. Let's assemble as free people and worship God in spirit and in truth regardless of what anyone says, Amen," Spell said.
Later, Long told reporters that the law requires the church and Spell to send a letter of notice before taking legal action. Long said he is also representing Spell in his criminal misdemeanor case, though the pastor has yet been given a date for his arraignment.
Responding to another question, Long said the church has no information that any of its parishioners had contracted the coronavirus. Many health experts say the virus can be leave a large share of those infected asymptomatic, though they are still contagious.
Spell also disputed a claim, raised by a reporter, that he had advised his parishioners not to seek medical help if they get the COVID-19 illness.
"I never said that," he said.
He added that the comments were a misspeaking of his beliefs about the purported healing power of laying on hands.
Roy Moore, who is licensed to practice law in Alabama, said he will seek to be admitted to practice in Louisiana and sit as Spell's and the church's co-counsel.
Hours after the pastor's arrest Tuesday, Spell, who was not taken to jail when issued the misdemeanor summonses but was fingerprinted, held another service Tuesday evening, which attracted hundreds.
Law officers at the church took no action. The charges that District Attorney Hillar Moore unveiled Wednesday did not address the Tuesday night service.
Edwards and medical experts say that limiting crowd size slows the spread of disease and reduces the risk of overwhelming the health care system. The term, referring to how cases are plotted on a chart, is known as "flattening the curve."
Roy Moore is a conservative advocate of religious liberties who was removed from his position 2003 after defying a federal judge's order to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the state's high court.
He was reelected to the post in 2013 only to be removed again in 2016 over his defiance of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on same sex marriages.
He resigned almost a year later to launch a run for U.S. Senate but lost to Democrat Doug Jones amid allegations Roy Moore had sexually assaulted women and teenage girls in his 30s, charges he denied. He placed fourth this spring in the Republican primary.
>>>So choose, is the First Amendment expressing an inalienable right, or not?
Do you view laws against slander, libel and false advertising to be unconstitutional?
Spreading a deadly disease is not a right.
Hard to understand this theology.
Got to close all the WallyWorlds then.
Lock up Moore too. Better yet, lock up Moore and leave the minister free.
Man does not live by bread alone. I am sure churches can be smart and set up distancing and ventilation. But they have to be treated like children while the undisciplined monkeys leak packages at walmart unfettered.
how come I haven’t heard a word out of you about the 30,000 flu deaths so far this year? Oh...that’s right, this one’s political
Good grief even Noah built an ark to protect people. These people are opposite of how you should be for Christ. They are religious fake!!!!!
More vanity politics from Roy Moore.
What an embarrassment.
Probably because it is completely irrelevant and a totally false narrative to bring it up. Next.
riiiiight
Slander and libel are civil actions which allow injured parties to collect damages done to them by false speech. There are NO laws against slander (as in prior restraint); in fact, were you to try to get a defamatory article blocked from being published, the government would REFUSE to block it and tell you to sue after the speech (if you can prove damages). So your analogy is incorrect.
And laws against “false advertising” (in as much as they aren’t civil in nature and allow recouping of real damages) should be unconstitutional. Caveat Emptor.
How many people die of disease every year? How many have you spread?
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