A judge in Oregon on Tuesday pushed back against the state Supreme Court after it decided that Gov. Kate Brown’s stay-at-home order limiting church gatherings to fewer than 25 people was constitutional.
The judge, Matthew Shirtcliff, ruled last week that the 10 churches suing Brown were not bound by the order, as long as they could hold their services safely. Shirtcliff also said that several other of the provisions in Brown’s order, which the governor has extended through July 6, were “null and void” because she had failed to obtain approval from the state legislature. The Oregon Supreme Court reversed his decision later that day.
The Supreme Court asked Shirtcliff to reaffirm his decision on Tuesday or to explain why he had ruled differently. In a one-paragraph response, Shirtcliff wrote that he would stand by his original ruling, without offering any explanation as to why. His decision means that the churches and state will likely face another court battle.
In his original ruling, Shirtcliff said that Brown’s order was more harmful to the state than the coronavirus pandemic itself. He also noted, as judges in similar cases in other states have, that requiring special limitations on churches that are not equally applied to businesses is a violation of churches’ First Amendment rights.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision, Brown praised the body for reaffirming her executive authority.
“There are no shortcuts for us to return to life as it was before this pandemic,” Brown said in a statement. “Moving too quickly could return Oregon to the early days of this crisis, when we braced ourselves for hospitals to be overfilled.”
Shirtcliff’s resistance to the Supreme Court came the weekend after President Trump pressured governors still banning church services to lift their restrictions. During a Friday press conference, Trump announced new guidelines for the reopening of churches and said that he would “override” any governors who did not implement them.
“The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important essential places of faith to open right now. For this weekend. If they don’t do it, I will override the governors,” Trump said.
Although Trump does not have the authority to make governors open up churches, three of the five remaining holdouts did open up over the weekend. California, Vermont, and Minnesota eased their restrictions. Washington and New Jersey did not.
