May 11th Summary of Free Exercise of Religion

1. On April 30th, a Complaint was filed with the Department of Justice against Governor Baker alleging Violations of First Amendment Rights.   This is based upon the development that Governor Baker took it upon himself to change the definition of religion and the reception of Sacraments from a First Amendment right to a non-essential business or 'social gathering', making the salvation of our immortal souls constitutionally subordinate to the authority of the government.   
2. Based upon the above, and Governor Baker's failure to list rights derived from the Bill of Rights as essential services, a Complaint was filed today with Massachusetts Attorney General's Office against Governor Baker for Violations of First Amendment Rights.

Local and National Developments:

Local

In Massachusetts, a gun shop owner in Middleboro filed a complaint in federal court against Governor Baker, alleging Executive Orders contained Second Amendment rights violations.  This is an important case to us, as it brings up the issue of limitations in emergency police state powers in activities that have constitutional protections.  

The judge issued a temporary injunction, restraining Governor Baker's enforcement of executive orders upon Second Amendment rights.  In his ruling, the judge stated Governor baker 'had no jurisdiction' to exclude gun shops from his list of 'essential services'.  The preliminary injunction went into effect Saturday May 9th. 

Additionally, attorneys for pastor in Adams Square has requested Governor Baker list the constitutionally protected free exercise of religion as an 'essential business'

Also in Massachusetts, 260 pastors sent a letter to Governor requesting relief from his executive orders.    The Archdiocese of Boston issued a public statement stating they did not enjoin in the letter, as they are 'committed' to 'public officials' to tell them 'timing and conditions of opening churches'

Given the 'conditions' articulated in the Archdiocese of Boston's webinar, predicted compliance with Governor Baker's orders would delay the return of religious civil liberties 'two years or more', based upon milestones which included a complete eradication of any kind of symptom that would be present in any kind of flu, requirements for priests to conduct temperature checks and immunity testing and the subjective opinion expressed that 'parish closures would go on forever', here are next legal steps:

If on May 18th, Governor Baker has not included First Amendment rights on his list of essential services, and if there is any imposition of any sort, that is not imposed upon buying a bottle of Maker's Mark at Liquor Land - whether those restrictions are in numbers permitted into a building meeting social distancing requirements, or any of the lunatic milestones referenced in the above paragraph, a lawsuit against Governor Baker (any other public official imposing such milestones upon the reception of Sacraments for Massachusetts Catholics ) will swiftly follow in federal court to seek restraining orders.

We are in the process of going public in the press.  I am also in the process of setting up a blog to track lawsuits pertaining to religious freedom.   Right now, the blog is just an aggregator listing public articles. Once we are done doing groundwork, the blog will be more robust.   Also, if we need to file for restraining order, fundraising will be necessary and that will be added to the site.  

National Developments

Apparently, President Trump's group working on religious freedom cut the CDC loose for attempting to impose unconstitutional burdens upon religious freedoms.  

Relevant lawsuits tracked on the blog, include the lawsuit in Kentucky which is also important to our pending cases:

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove issued a temporary restraining order against Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear for his enforcement of bans on “any in-person religious service which adheres to applicable social distancing and hygiene guidelines”

Kentucky Judge Van Tatenhove’s court order states “the prohibition on religious services presently operating in the Commonwealth is beyond what was reasonably required for the safety of the public.  If social distancing is good enough for Home Depot and Kroger, it is good enough for in-person religious services which, unlike the foregoing, benefit from constitutional protection.” 

There are several other federal lawsuits percolating referenced on the blog.

Sweet Sacrament, we Thee Adore.

Oh make us love Thee more and more

Oh make us love Thee more and more