The Supreme Court rejected an appeal from a Kentucky religious school challenging Gov. Andy Beshear’s coronavirus restrictions.
The high court wrote in an unsigned opinion on Thursday that it rejected the case because it challenged Beshear’s orders, which close all in-person learning, when they are set to expire within the next week because of Christmas break. It did not, however, discourage the school, Danville Christian Academy, or Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron from bringing the case forward again if Beshear reinstitutes the order in January.
“We deny the application without prejudice to the applicants or other parties seeking a new preliminary injunction if the Governor issues a school-closing order that applies in the new year,” the court wrote.
Justice Samuel Alito dissented, along with Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing that “no one should misinterpret” the court’s majority “as signifying approval” of a previous decision made by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals siding with Beshear. Alito commended the school for acting as quickly as it could and encouraged it to return if Beshear keeps schools closed in the spring.
“If the Governor does not allow classes to begin after the turn of the year, the applicants can file a new request for a preliminary injunction, and if the lower courts do not provide relief, the applicants may of course return to this Court,” Alito wrote.
The school’s attorney, Kelly Shackelford, president of the First Amendment nonprofit group the First Liberty Institute, said the legal team will be back at the court if Beshear renews the closure order in 2021.
“We will file against him immediately,” Shackelford said. “The courts need to send a message to Governor Beshear and government officials around the nation that our God-given rights are still protected, even in a crisis, and especially from irrational and discriminatory government orders.”
The school alleged in a complaint that Beshear had treated them unfairly because while forcing religious-run institutions to move online while allowing bars, restaurants, and bowling alleys to remain open. The school cited Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, New York v. Cuomo, in which the Supreme Court ruled in favor of New York churches and synagogues alleging that Gov. Andrew Cuomo had treated them unfairly for similar reasons.
That case proved to be a turning point for religious liberty litigation during the pandemic. The court has since ruled in favor of three churches, in Colorado, New Jersey, and California.
