Judge rules against Kansas governor’s order limiting in-person church gatherings

The Wichita Eagle ^ | 4/18/2020 | Jonathan Shorman

[usafa92]

Judge rules against Kansas governor’s order limiting in-person church gatherings April 18, 2020 07:57 PM, Updated 40 minutes ago

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly talks about impending lawsuit over church order

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly spoke at her daily briefing about her plans to go to court to stop Republican lawmakers from overturning her executive order limiting church gatherings. (April 9, 2020) By Governor Laura Kelly/Facebook A U.S. District Court of Kansas judge issued a temporary restraining order on Saturday against part of Gov. Laura Kelly’s executive order that limited church gatherings to 10 or fewer people, paving the way for normal in-person Sunday services without violating the law.

The ruling is the latest in a saga about religious freedom that caught national attention after Kelly signed an order banning the gatherings, which had already been in effect, but added “churches or other religious facilities” to the list five days before Easter. The addition sparked a board of the state’s top legislators overriding the order which led to the Kansas Supreme Court striking down the override. The court never ruled on the constitutionality of the order which is what was brought up in a lawsuit filed Thursday by a couple of pastors and their two churches.

Judge John Broomes heard arguments for about 75 minutes on Friday during a telemeeting while people practice social distancing during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Broomes issued his decision Saturday.

[centurion316]

Kansans have a way of voting for annoying Karen type governors, sadly.

Yes, in fact a very long history of this, dating back to the entry of Kansas to the Union. The first Kansas Republicans were liberal New Englander immigrants. Many of their descendants are still Republicans, and their liberalism runs in the family.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Thanks for the informative reply. I took a few law courses in grad school — but, there are many differences between the American and Canadian justice systems. Some aspects of the American system still mystify me, despite learning a lot here over the years.

[Cboldt]

This remedy in this case is unusual.

A TRO on a government order is usually applied to all parties affected by the order, not just the parties in the caption. This judge is allowing the state to continue to impose what the judge found to probably be an unconstitutional order.