In an unusual move on Saturday, the Kansas Supreme Court met via livestream to preside over an emergency hearing. The judges heard a challenge to Gov. Laura Kelly’s executive order that temporarily banned religious services of more than 10 people.
Kansas’s Republican-controlled legislature had overturned Kelly’s ruling. Local news sources said Senate President Susan Wagle, (a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate) said Kelly’s order “appears to be out of line, extreme and clearly in violation, a blatant violation of our fundamental rights.”
Kelly, a Democrat, filed a lawsuit protesting the action, appealing to the state’s Supreme Court in the hope that they would rule before Easter Sunday. “I was so deeply troubled to learn that our attorney general has decided to launch a bizarre, confusing and overtly political attack at such a moment of tragedy and that Republican legislative leaders have chosen to follow suit with a shockingly irresponsible decision that will put every Kansas life at risk,” Kelly said.
Late Saturday night, after the hearing, the Kansas Supreme Court upheld Kelly’s executive order, essentially ruling that the legislature didn’t have the power to override the governor’s order.
The legalities of this case are tricky. According to the Kansas state constitution, two-thirds of members in both chambers must vote to override the governor’s veto. However, these are unusual times. How the governor responds during a public health emergency may be her prerogative, per the state’s bylaws.
While it may seem like Kelly’s order was religious discrimination in violation of the First Amendment, the executive order banned all gatherings of more than 10 people, not just religious gatherings.
With COVID-19 still spreading throughout the country, why not err on the side of safety and forgo in-person church services for now? Social distancing requirements are in effect for safety and to reduce the spread of this awful disease. While a few local governments do seem to be using this anxious time to target people of faith, this does not appear to be one of those instances.
Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
