Worthy Christian News > US News > Kentucky AG files motion with SCOTUS to keep religious schools open

Kentucky AG files motion with SCOTUS to keep religious schools open

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is set to consider a joint request by the Kentucky Attorney General and a local Christian school to set aside Sunday’s federal appeals court ruling which upheld a state COVID-19 executive order banning in-person classes, Fox News reports.

The plaintiffs argue the current closure of religious schools is unconstitutional. Kavanaugh has asked Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear to file a response by Friday.

Although secular schools are also closed, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Danville Christian School have argued that the closing of religious schools violates first amendment constitutional rights. “When you tell folks who send [students] to religious-affiliated schools, which is an act of worship within itself, that they cannot go to school, it infringes upon the First- Amendment rights,” Cameron told Fox News on Monday.

Moreover, the plaintiffs point out that a number of secular activities are allowed while in-person religious education is not. “[The governor’s orders prohibit gathering for religious education while also failing to prohibit gathering for other secular activities,” the lawsuit says. “In Kentucky, one can catch a matinee at the movie theater, tour a distillery, work out at the gym, bet at a gambling parlor, shop, go to work, cheer on the Wildcats or the Cardinals, and attend a wedding. A parent can send his or her child to daycare or preschool. And college students can attend classes. But all of Kentucky’s religious schools are shuttered.”

In a statement following the appeals court ruling this weekend, Beshear explained his order saying: “Almost every county is in the red zone, we have had nearly 10,000 students and staff in quarantine over the past two weeks, our hospitals are on the verge of being overwhelmed and we have lost nearly 1,900 fellow Kentuckians, including health care workers, a teacher, and a 15-year-old student.”