On Monday, a federal appeals court upheld an award of $272,142.50 in attorney fees to three church-goers who attended an Easter service in 2020, in defiance of Democrat Kentucky Governor Andrew Beshear’s COVID-rationalized ban on religious gatherings and interstate travel.
The fees were initially awarded after the plaintiffs successfully sued on the grounds that the governor violated their constitutional rights, The Daily Caller explains:
“Randall Daniel, Theodore Roberts, and Sally O’Boyle sued in August 2020 after they received notices logging their attendance at Maryville Baptist Church’s Easter Service and informing them they must quarantine or face “further enforcement measures.” The group alleged Democratic Governor Andrew Beshear’s bans on religious gatherings and interstate travel violated their constitutional rights, which the Sixth Circuit affirmed in May 2020, according to court documents.”
“‘[The] unexplained breadth of the ban on religious services, together with its haven for numerous secular exceptions, cannot co-exist with a society that places religious freedom in a place of honor in the Bill of Rights: the First Amendment,” the court found in May 2020.”
In Monday’s ruling, the appeals court notes that the initial decision reasoned that Gov. Beshear’s ban “likely violated the Free Exercise Clause because it treated religious gatherings less favorably than comparable secular gatherings.”
“[W]e won and the right to worship was affirmed in the 6th Circuit,” tweeted Monday, recalling how Gov. Beshear’s threats had prompted the initial lawsuit:
“[Gov.] Beshear told the people of Kentucky that church goers will have their licenses taken down and they will be forced to quarantine, and face jail time. I Ignored that order along with dozens of brave Christians and worshipped the Lord. Beshear followed through on these threats, so I called @ChrisWiest11 and we sued the governor in federal court. Thanks to Chris, Tom Bruns, and Robert A Winter Jr, we won and the right to worship was affirmed in the 6th Circuit.”
Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie also took to Twitter Monday to cheer the appeals court’s ruling and chide Gov. Beshear for wasting taxpayers’ money trying to defend his behavior.