Free Republic

In Illinois Republican Party v. Pritzker, (7th Cir., Sept. 3, 2020), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments by the Illinois Republican Party that Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker's COVD-19 Order limiting gatherings (including political gatherings) to 50 people is unconstitutional because there is an exemption from the limit for religious services. The court, denying a preliminary injunction, said in part: A careful look at the Supreme Court’s Religion Clause cases, coupled with the fact that EO43 is designed to give greater leeway to the exercise of religion, convinces us that the speech that accompanies religious exercise has a...

While caring for the hungry 'requires teams of people to work together in physical spaces ... churches can feed the spirit in other ways,' the court ruled.June 22, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against an Illinois church suing the state over its COVID-19 restrictions on freedom of religious assembly, potentially setting up another First Amendment showdown before the nation’s highest court. In May, Illinois Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker laid out a five-phase plan for lifting the state’s public-health emergency, which among other things holds that, should COVID-19 cases continue to decline, public gatherings such as...