A second Delaware judge has dismissed lawsuits filed by two pastors seeking to prevent the state’s governor from imposing future restrictions on religious worship.
Superior Court Judge Meghan A. Adams’ dismissal had the pastors’ lawyers promising they would appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.
“The court refused to rule on the question of whether the Delaware Bill of Rights requires that churches remain open when Walmart, Acme and liquor stores are open and Christians are locked down and out of their churches, despite the absolute protection given them in the Delaware Constitution of 1776,” said Thomas S. Neuberger, one of the pastors’ attorneys.
Neuberger added that in their appeal, they’ll ask the Delaware Supreme Court to decide “whether powers given to the governor to discriminate against churches by the General Assembly can ignore freedoms found in our Bill of Rights.”
What exactly did the lawsuits argue?
The Rev. Alan Hines, of Townsend Free Will Baptist Church in Townsend, and the Rev. David Landow, of Emmanuel Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, filed the lawsuits in late 2021 seeking an injunction against future emergency orders that place restrictions on houses of worship such as those imposed by Gov. John Carney in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic spread.
THE QUESTION AT HAND:Lawsuits ask that governors’ emergency orders keep their ‘hands off’ houses of worship
The pastors’ lawsuits claimed Carney’s emergency orders early in the pandemic denied them their “absolute religious freedoms.”
Through their lawsuits, they are asking Carney and future Delaware governors to keep their “hands off” the church in any future emergencies, regardless of any pretense they may offer.
In Carney’s motion to dismiss the case, his attorneys argued the governor is immune from damages for the alleged violations. They also argued for dismissal because the pastors’ violations of rights were “past exposure,” which is “insufficient to demonstrate that there is a current case or controversy entitling them to declaratory relief.”
Why was the case dismissed?
Adams, on Monday, agreed with the Carney’s lawyers.
This is the second time the case has been dismissed by a state court. Chancery Court Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster dismissed the lawsuit last year because he said it lacked subject matter jurisdiction — the requirement needed for a court to hear a specific kind of claim.
PREVIOUS REPORTING:Why a Delaware judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging future COVID-19 restrictions
Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.
