Federal judge blocks Kansas limits on religious gatherings

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


“Churches and religious activities appear to have been singled out among essential functions for stricter treatment,” the judge wrote in his order.

April 18, 2020, 8:49 PM CDT
By The Associated Press

A federal judge on Saturday blocked Kansas from limiting attendance at in-person religious worship services or activities to 10 people or fewer to check the spread of the coronavirus, signaling he believes there’s a good chance the policy violates religious freedom and free speech rights.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge John Broomes in Wichita prevents the enforcement of an order issued by Gov. Laura Kelly if pastors and congregations observe social distancing. The judge's decision will remain in effect until May 2. He has a hearing scheduled Wednesday in a lawsuit filed against Kelly by two churches and their pastors.

Broomes’ action comes amid strong criticism of the Democratic governor’s order from the Republican-controlled Legislature and increasing pressure from GOP lawmakers to lift at least part of a stay-at-home order for all 2.9 million Kansas residents that took effect March 30 and is set to continue until May 3.

It also comes as the number of coronavirus cases and COVID-19-related deaths continue to rise in Kansas.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/federal-judge-blocks-kansas-limits-religious-gatherings-n1187186

---

Judge John Broomes

Derp

[elleng]

1. DAMN!

[Bengus81]

36. Let's see if Sedgwick Co (Wichita and about 500k population) removes their restrictions......

I'll bet those Republicans on the County commission say HELL NO to that Judge. I'm going out in an hour and have a look see at four mega churches close by.

[ArizonaLib]

2. Trump appointee

[elleng]

3. wants to enable cross-contamination of 'worshippers.'

[DanieRains]

10. Corona Virus Kills KKKristians Too

Sorry Kansas.

Just lettin' ya know.

[Bengus81]

37. Yeah and as it turns out Kansas is SMARTER than most of the other States near by

Because we have a Democrat Governor in Laura Kelly who took the bull by the balls early on and wasn't about the be dictated to by Spanky and Republican goons in the State House.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

18. Confirmed April 16, 2018. His first judgeship. . . . nt

[progree]

4. "they believe God calls them to engage in 'corporate' prayer"

the pastors & churches suing Kelly said they believe God calls them to engage in "corporate" prayer

Well, but what about the Son of God, who saith:

Matthew 6:

5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites
are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and
in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.
Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

6. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy
closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray
to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father
which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Is God going to spank the Son of God?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

19. Buffet bible believers. The literate ones know it. All pick and choose what they like. . . . nt

[Igel]

27. Yeah.

Like Jesus praying in public in Luke 3, Paul in Acts 16 and Acts 22.

They miss the obvious virtue signaling aspect and reduce it to a formalism for the purpose of judging others. Intent matters--strip that out, and you have a set of materialistic, secular rules for compliance with outward formalities.

Worship was public at the temple and involved prayers, it was corporate in synagogues. Even at the last supper Jesus prayed in front of the disciples, and at the sermon on the mount Jesus blessed the food--which is a prayer--in front of the masses. Barukh ata, adonai eloheinu ... As soon as you say "ata" it's a personal address, "blessed thou art ...".

But only people who are illiterate could possibly know any of this. It's much better to be literate and know less. I'm a War and Peace scholar, I only know the opening line. It makes it really easy to pick and choose what I like, given that breadth. Who know it was entirely in French?

"Corporate" is just the usual word, however odd it may seem to those outside the more academic side of anything religion (and only view it in the newcomer political sense), for things done as a body: "of, relating to, or formed into a unified body of individuals" (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/corporate).From the Latin "corpus" (the nominal stem is corpor-) You can see where the later, derived, business sense comes from.

[Thomas Hurt]

5. Let them test God

[BatteriesNotNeeded]

6. well

A soul and it's body are soon parted. (my take off of a fool and his money are soon parted)

[TryLogic]

38. How about... a fool and his body are soon parted.

[onecaliberal]

7. They will ignore at their own peril.

This is why I will not go back out until there is testing.

[NotHardly]

8. Judges cannot be sued... when people die, and they will die, he will suffer no consequences

[DanieRains]

9. Alexa Send Body Bags To Kansas

From Rambo First Blood: You send that many (to church), don't forget one thing. -What? -A good supply of body-bags!

Save your soul. Kill your friends, family, and neighbors for Jeezus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I say what I really think I will have my account suspended.....

Dying for Jesus is reeeeeeel popular.

[Thekaspervote]

11. EVILGELICALS want that offering plate passed....more greed than god

[EarthFirst]

12. So the ruling is temporary?

Just like the...aww; fuck it. I won’t even spell it out.

[safeinOhio]

13. I would exempt trump rallies too.

But that's just me.

[sl8]

14. More:

From https://amp.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article242100806.html

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

BY MICHAEL STAVOLA
APRIL 18, 2020 07:57 PM

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, a ruling that paves the way for in-person religious 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 amid the coronavirus pandemic, 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 and then the Kansas Supreme Court striking down the override. The Kansas 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. Broomes issued his decision Saturday.

“Plaintiffs have made a sufficient showing that a live controversy exists as to whether the Governor’s current restrictions on religious activity ... violate Plaintiffs’ First Amendment right to freely exercise their religion,” the ruling says. “Defendant has not argued that mass gatherings at churches pose unique health risks that do not arise in mass gatherings at airports, offices, and production facilities. Yet the exemption for religious activities has been eliminated while it remains for a multitude of activities that appear comparable in terms of health risks.”

[...]

[MissMillie]

15. singled out?

What's this guy got in his thermos?

No school or college
No sporting events
No concerts, movies, plays

Just how are the churches singled out?

[former9thward]

23. Shopping is allowed.

There are 10 or more in food stores all the time.

[madville]

26. Yep, drive by any Walmart

There are 500 people packed in there at any given time.

[MissMillie]

45. yeah, I get that

but I just named 6 other things besides religious services that are not happening...


so "singled-out" is absolutely incorrect.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

16. Churches are going to be full or nearly so in many places today with or without orders

MAGAts emboldened yesterday are going to be out in full force today claiming victory.

The virus doesn't care, but sees fresh bodies.

[Squinch]

17. So we'll be having spikes in Georgia and Florida (beaches) and now

Kansas in a couple of weeks. (Makes note.)

Ok. The self culling, it seems, will continue.

[sl8]

20. Kansas Executive Order No. 20-18:

Note the list of exemptions.

PDF:
https://governor.kansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/20-18-Executed.pdf

Executive Order No. 20-18, temporarily prohibiting mass gatherings of more than 10 people to limit the spread of COVID-19 and rescinding Executive Order 20-14. 

[KY_EnviroGuy]

24. K&R, thanks. It's disturbing that......

the judge set himself up as qualified to establish protocols for safe church meetings (from the Kansas.com article).

That could open a Pandora's box for other type groups wanting equal privileged despite public safety concerns. In the USA, special interests always seem to trump the common good in the end.

[Maxheader]

21. "Churches and religious activities appear to have been singled out among essential functions for..

Moron...seniors congregating is really stupid..

[sinkingfeeling]

22. Exactly how were they 'singled out' if the rule applies to all

groups?

[sl8]

29. All, except for airports, libraries, shopping malls, restaurants & bars, office spaces, etc.

At least, that seems to be the logic of the judge according to the news articles I've read. I haven't found the temporary restraining order online.

[sinkingfeeling]

32. Kansas' airports, restaurants and bars, and offices are open?

[sl8]

33. Well, they're exempted in the EO.

From the articles I've read, the fact that all those venues are exempted, but churches are not, is why he thinks the executive order treats churches unfairly. Again, I haven't seen the actual TRO.

PDF of EO:
https://governor.kansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/20-18-Executed.pdf

[sinkingfeeling]

35. Thank gawd I don't live in Kansas.

[DURHAM D]

25. Note: This action was brought by two Southern Baptist ministers. nt

[TryLogic]

39. That figures.

I was heavily indoctrinated by Southern Baptist preachers for a long time. And it was not easy to get my head straight so I could join reality.

[madville]

28. I do question the authority to suspend the Constitution

As we all should. Like we shouldn’t suspend the 4th amendment after a terrorist attack for example.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

We either follow the Constitution or it’s essentially meaningless. It’s says right there that the government cannot restrict free exercise of religion or the right to peaceably assemble, this is pretty basic stuff.

[KayF]

30. but the crux of the matter remains in place

just like everything else, ignore the stated intentions of what these protests are about.

But Broomes' order does not let the churches have services without any restrictions. Instead, he ordered them to abide by recommendations for social distancing that people stay 6 feet apart and continue following other practices the lawsuit said they had imposed, such as not using collection plates.

[bluestarone]

31. BIG question is

Are they gonna be DUMB like the Judge? THEY could just stay home, BUT i doubt it!

[Marrah_Goodman]

34. I feel badly for the innocent people who will die because of this

As for those adults attending the services, well....play stupid games, get stupid prizes.

[NickB79]

40. Remember how the models said 100,000 dead if we followed the rules?

And then the administration came out with a new model saying only 60,000 dead?

We're not following the rules. We're gonna blow through 100,000 dead by the end of the year, easily, because of assholes like this.

[demigoddess]

41. I've attended churches in Kansas. Let them go back

to attending church with no space in between people. Never saw so many bad people in my life. In one church a guy said they should "beat up and maybe kill" a little old woman because they heard she was an atheist. So much for Freedom of Religion in Kansas.

[Initech]

42. No they are not being singled out you fucking moron!!

If you want your precious services to return, shut up and do this like the rest of us are doing. If you want your normal life to return like we all do, this is the only thing that we can do for now. Churches are going to have to suffer like the rest of us for the duration of this outbreak. So put up or shut up.

[Tarc]

43. Fine by me

Congregations of morons wiping themselves out?



Thoughts & Prayers

[sl8]

44. Temporary restraining order (PDF):

http://media.graytvinc.com/documents/kelly+restraining+order+%282%29.pdf