Supreme Court refused to block an order by Gov. Beshear

December 17, 2020

WTVQ News Desk,

WASHINGTON (AP/WTVQ/CNN) – The Supreme Court has refused to block an order by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear that bars in-person K-12 education until early January in areas hard hit by COVID-19, rejecting a plea from a private religious school.

The court said in an unsigned opinion Thursday that Beshear’s order will effectively expire at the end of the week anyway because schools are about to begin their Christmas vacation and can open again in early January.

A ruling against the state “would have little practical effect,” the court said.

During his daily briefing Thursday, Beshear learned of the ruling.

“The Supreme Court of the United States denied the Kentucky Attorney General’s attempt to overturn the ruling in the Sixth Circuit that said we were treating all schools during this dangerous period the same and taking steps to protect the lives of those around us,” Beshear said. “First, we didn’t close any school, we just moved them to online, virtual instruction, and I think that’s important, because suggesting a school is closed suggests that educators aren’t working with students to provide the best experience possible, and they are doing a heck of a job.

“The second thing is, in no way were religious schools treated any differently. We asked everybody to make the same sacrifices. Everybody. Every school. Not picking on anybody, just asking every school to do the exact same thing. And guess what? We see with that and other steps it stopped an exponential growth that was threatening our hospital capacity.

“The things we’ve put into place have worked. We still have a lot longer to go in battling this virus, but I hope when we know things will work, that in the future everybody will say Well do our part. We don’t want to be an exception; we want to be part of the solution,” Beshear stated.

The lawsuit started with Danville Christian School and Attorey General Danile Camero ad other religious schools joined in. The Supreme Court denied a request from the school to block regulations that temporarily restrict in-person instruction in elementary, middle and upper schools in the state due to Covid-19.

The court’s unsigned order is the most recent to come from the justices dealing with religious groups that are challenging Covid-19 restrictions as a violation of First Amendment rights, although it is the first dealing with a school.

In other recent orders, the court had sided with houses of worship and against state officials.

Here, the court noted the state’s regulation expires in the coming days and that there is “no indication that it will be renewed.”

The court said that because of the “timing and impending expiration” of the order, it would deny the request to block it but said the school could come back if a new order is issued next year.

Justices Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito dissented, saying Beshear’s executive order “resulted in unconstitutional discrimination against religion.”

They said that even with the impending expiration, the court should have blocked the order because for now it remains in dispute, and that the dispute “remains live.”

The petition was brought by lawyers for Danville Christian Academy, which argued the order mandating the closure of all religious and non-religious public elementary, middle and upper schools in the state violated religious liberty.

They argued that Danville was being treated differently than secular businesses and that the academy requires in-person instruction of its students.