The Public Health Department for the City of Madison and Dane County, Wisconsin, put out a new “Forward Dane” order on Friday, allowing churches to reopen just like any business would be able to. The order came after attorneys from Sidley Austin and Becket, representing the Catholic Diocese of Madison, demanded that Madison and Dane County officials allow the churches to reopen.
Before the letter and bad publicity, local officials had capped church attendance at 50 people. Madison and Dane County’s order allows all manner of businesses, from shopping malls and spas to salons and movie theaters, to reopen and continue doing business at 25% capacity — while Madison churches, synagogues, and mosques were only allowed to let 50 people in. This blatant targeting of houses of worship while businesses are allowed to reopen is nonsensical and violates the First Amendment rights of Wisconsin citizens.
There’s a reason why this trend of keeping churches shuttered while businesses reopen seems particularly egregious. To add to the double standard, large groups of people have gathered to protest in Madison, and those have been lauded, not halted, despite the supposed health risks. Worse, according to Becket’s press release, “Madison/Dane County threatened to send government officials to Catholic Masses to find out how many people are there and impose $1000 fines if too many people came to church.” So, churchgoers would get fined, but protesters don’t?
Worshippers, peaceful protesters, and moviegoers must be treated the same in this country. Even violent rioters are being allowed to gather without the threat of being disbanded or fined due to COVID-19 restrictions. To impose fines on some of these people under the ruse of a health crisis while allowing others to meet, to protest, or to go to a spa is hardly equitable treatment under the law and remains a violation of the First Amendment.
Bishop Donald Hying of the Diocese of Madison said in a statement provided by Becket:
Keeping churches closed while reopening businesses was unconstitutional and unwarranted long ago. Now, it’s just a tiresome double standard: Fling open the doors of the churches and squelch violent riots. Our First Amendment and our country’s moral barometer demands it. Officials shouldn’t need a demand letter or the threat of a lawsuit to make it happen either.
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.
