Louisiana Supreme Court Rules COVID 19 Church Mandate Cannot be Used to Prosecute a Crime

Louisiana – On May 13, 2022, In a religious freedom case in Louisiana that began during the COVID 19 Pandemic, the State Supreme Court ruled that Governor John Bel Edwards’ mandates closing churches cannot be used to prosecute the crime of allowing too many people into church for worship.

In State v. Spell, the highest court of Louisiana ruled “In this criminal proceeding, we find certain provisions of two executive orders, as applied to defendant, violate his fundamental right to exercise religion, do not survive strict scrutiny, and are thus unconstitutional.”

In response to their decision to end the criminal prosecution of a pastor for allegedly violating capacity limits at his church in the early months of the pandemic, Louisiana Attorney General Landry praised the majority for upholding the right to worship.