Justices Rule with AG Jeff Landry, Dismiss Criminal Charges Against
Pastor
NEW ORLEANS, LA – In a major victory for religious
freedom in Louisiana, the State Supreme Court has ruled with Attorney General
Jeff Landry in declaring that Governor John Bel Edwards’ mandates closing
churches cannot be the basis to prosecute a governor-created crime of letting
too many people into church for worship.
In State v. Spell, the highest court of Louisiana
ruled “In this criminal proceeding, we find certain provisions of two executive
orders, as applied to defendant, violate his fundamental right to exercise
religion, do not survive strict scrutiny, and are thus unconstitutional.”
In response to their decision to end the criminal
prosecution of a pastor for allegedly violating capacity limits at his church
in the early months of the pandemic, Attorney General Landry praised the
majority for upholding the constitutionally-protected right to worship.
“Once again, this Governor’s overreach has been defeated
in court. While it is unfortunate that it took almost two years, I am
appreciative that John Bel’s unconstitutional actions have been halted by the
court. This is a victory for the separation of powers and our free exercise
clause. What’s more: it is a great highlight of John Bel’s hypocrisy –
punishing prayer service but not food service at a mall.”
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A copy of the Louisiana Supreme Court’s opinion may be
found at https://www.lasc.org/opinions/2022/21-0876.KK.OPN.pdf.