Court Says DC Mayor “Misses the Point” of Religious Freedom

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal judge ruled in favor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church against the Washington, D.C. mayor’s discriminatory restrictions on outdoor worship services. Judge Trevor McFadden, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, granted a preliminary injunction allowing the church to hold outdoor services with more congregants than the district allows. The church waited more than six months after D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s first order restricting outdoor gatherings before it filed a lawsuit on Sept. 22 over the city’s refusal to allow more than 100 people to attend outdoor services while wearing masks and remaining socially distanced. Under D.C.’s Phase Two reopening guidelines, places of worship cannot hold outdoor or indoor services with attendance at more than 50 percent capacity, or 100 people. Capitol Hill Baptist Church argued that the D.C. COVID-19 restrictions had violated its constitutional rights and was causing “irreparable harm” to its congregation. The church twice sought a waiver from the city government so it could meet outdoors. After the District denied the waiver on Sept. 15, the church sued and sought a temporary restraining order.