FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks during a drive-in campaign rally with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama at Belle Isle on October 31, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images/TNS)
Feds side with Michigan religious schools in suit over Covid-19 restrictions
DETROIT The U.S. Department of Justice has sided with religious and private schools in Michigan that brought a lawsuit challenging the state’s latest restrictions halting in-person high school instruction due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Justice Department last week filed a statement of interest in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan in support of the plaintiff schools’ motion to halt the shutdown of in-person instruction, arguing the move was unlawful and violated the students’ constitutional right to free exercise of religion.
Lockdowns go too far, says Staver
Wednesday, December 23, 2020 |
Bob Kellogg (OneNewsNow.com)
Spanish
A Christian attorney agrees with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice coming alongside three Roman Catholic high schools and the Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools in their lawsuit against Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer s (D) ban on in-person classes in high schools.
According to WMAL-FM in Washington, D.C., the lawsuit says schools and families have a constitutional right to practice their religion through in-person instruction. This is really an extension and really part of the church to educate youths, comments Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel. The First Amendment clearly applies to not only churches, but to these private religious schools that are extensions of the religious ministries. These lockdowns frankly go beyond their constitutional authority.
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon had extended by 12 days that November order, which applied to high schools, colleges and universities. Gordon said the order was necessary to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Preschools, elementary and middle schools, as well as boarding schools, had been allowed to offer in-person learning under the order.
The three high schools Everest Collegiate High School and Academy in Clarkston, Fr. Gabriel Richard High School in Ann Arbor and Lansing Catholic High School along with the Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools said they should have been allowed to do the same, noting they use rigorous safety protocols and their infection rates are very low.