A New Mexico judge on Friday ruled that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s stay-at-home order does not violate an Albuquerque church’s First Amendment rights.
The church, First Legacy, sued after Lujan Grisham added churches to the state’s list of nonessential activities in an emergency health order on the day before Easter, meaning that no more than five people can gather at a service. In the church’s filing, it alleged that the order violated the First Amendment because the church needs more than five people to put on a service.
First Legacy asked for a temporary restraining order on Lujan Grisham’s executive order, which the court also threw out.
At a Wednesday press conference, Lujan Grisham said that she had added churches to the list of nonessential services to guard against the possibility of large church gatherings.
“We did that because we had more than a handful of churches who were going to have Easter services, and knowing the risk that poses to all of our communities and our healthcare workers, we made that an explicit prohibition,” she said.
Legacy held an in-person Easter Sunday service anyway, with about 30 people organizing it and about 60 people in attendance, spread out across three services, according to head pastor Steve Smotherman.
Another one of the church’s pastors, Daniel McCabe, said during a radio interview that he believed Lujan Grisham was unfairly targeting churches in her order because it allows businesses to operate at reduced capacity, but not churches.
“We believe what the First Amendment says: that there shouldn’t be laws made against religion,” he said. “So, if a box store is going to be allowed to have 20%, why wouldn’t you allow a church to have 20%?”
A Kansas judge on Saturday delivered a similar ruling, saying that Gov. Laura Kelly’s order banning religious gatherings with more than 10 people was constitutional.
