Church in Maine asks US Supreme Court to block church restrictions once and for all

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – An evangelical church in Maine is asking the United States Supreme Court to prohibit the state from ever placing COVID-19 restrictions on worship gatherings again, the Washington Times reports. While Maine removed all restrictions on gatherings in May, Calvary Chapel Bangor is appealing to the Supreme Court for fear the Delta variant may cause lockdowns and restrictions to be reinstated.

The Calvary Chapel case against Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and Dr. Nirav Shah, the state’s top public health official, was previously heard by Obama appointee District Judge Nancy Torresen on June 4, the Washington Times reports. In this instance, the court ruled that the case was moot as Maine had already lifted all of its restrictions.

Representing the church, Liberty Counsel lawyer Matt Staver said in a statement about Torresen’s ruling: “[The] governor could enact [the restrictions] again at any time for any reason.” Staver added that the state “expects the Delta variant’s impact to grow in the coming weeks.”

In a separate statement about the case, a spokesman for Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, said: “For more than two months, there have been no restrictions whatsoever on the size of gatherings, and the state of emergency expired at the end of June. Given that, we are disappointed that Calvary Chapel continues to waste public and judicial resources by attempting to litigate an issue that is now moot.”

Submitting its emergency petition to the Supreme Court, Liberty Counsel said in a statement. “The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled against these unconstitutional worship bans at least 10 times despite Governor Janet Mills threatening to enact her draconian restrictions again. We are asking the High Court to prevent Gov. Janet Mills from reimposing her unconstitutional restrictions once and for all.”

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