Restrictions on worship services recently issued by the City of Indianapolis veer into “unconstitutional and unlawful religious discrimination,†Attorney General Curtis Hill said today.
Issued as part of the city’s effort to reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Public Health Order 9-2020 limits the size of gatherings at Indianapolis places of worship to 25 people. It does not, however, impose this same restriction on other essential or even non-essential businesses. Places of worship are categorized as essential businesses.
“The Supreme Court of the United States has made clear that the First Amendment prohibits the government from singling out people for disfavored treatment because they are religious,†Attorney General Hill wrote in a letter to Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and Marion County Public Health Department Director Dr. Virginia Caine.
Churches, synagogues and other places of worship must be treated the same as non-religious entities, he wrote.
“During this difficult time, it is reasonable to expect all Hoosiers to make sacrifices to prevent the spread of the easily transferred COVID-19 virus, including by tolerating restrictions on gatherings and assemblies,†Attorney General Hill wrote. “Yet government officials must continue to respect the core civil right to be free from unlawful discrimination, including with respect to the free exercise of religion.
The letter is attached.
