The Trump Justice Department is pressuring Washington Gov. Jon Inslee to loosen restrictions on churches by arguing the state’s policy of allowing unlimited peaceful protests while capping houses of worship is discriminatory and likely unconstitutional.
The Department of Justice, in a June 11 Statement of Interest in a Tacoma, Wash., federal court supporting a Washington state church, argues “imposing a hard cap on all religious worship and no cap on secular gatherings constitutes unequal treatment.”
The state of Washington limits outdoor worship services to 100 people “regardless of distancing, hygiene, and other precautionary measures.” It also limits restaurants and taverns at 50 percent capacity while limiting houses of worship to 25 percent capacity, with a hard cap of 50 individuals.
“Yet, they permit protests without numerical limitation with only an unenforceable and unenforced suggestion by the Governor for ‘people to be safe for themselves and the people around them’ by ‘wearing a mask and … distancing as much as you can,’” the brief says.
The lawsuit against the state was brought by Harborview Fellowship in Pierce County, Wash.
The federal court brief also cites Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’ May 29 opinion that suggested churches should be treated the same as “comparable secular gatherings” of “large groups of people” in…
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