DOJ signals support for in-person church services

The Justice Department on Sunday sided with a Virginia church in a religious freedom lawsuit against Gov. Ralph Northam, signaling support for in-person church services during the coronavirus lockdown.

The suit, filed by the legal nonprofit group Liberty Counsel on behalf of Lighthouse Fellowship Church, arose after police broke up Lighthouse’s Palm Sunday service and charged Kevin Wilson, the church’s pastor, with a misdemeanor for violating Northam’s order. It alleges that, given that the church does not have a way to broadcast online, breaking up the service is a violation of the First Amendment’s speech and religion clauses as well as a number of Virginia statutes that ensure the freedom of religious practice.