FRANKFORT, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Gov. Andy Beshear may soon be meeting in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Cameron is challenging Beshear’s order, in response to rising COVID-19 cases, closing schools to in-person instruction.
Cameron said the order is unconstitutional because it includes private religious schools. And after losing a round in the Court of Appeals, Cameron has asked the Supreme Court to review the case.
“I think that's what people expect of the attorney general: to stand up for the constitutional rights of our citizens,” Cameron said.
Cameron hopes the High Court will agree with his argument that the governor forcing religious schools to pause in-person classes goes against the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of religion.
“Not only are they learning reading, writing and arithmetic, but they're also learning about foundational views as it relates to their faith," Cameron said. "That is intertwined in the curriculum that is taught there."
Cameron joined a lawsuit filed by Danville Christian Academy. Twenty other schools and more than 1,500 parents have filed briefs in support of the suit.
Cameron said the schools are following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and should be treated like other private institutions.
“The governor has said that if you are a religiously-affiliated school, you cannot have the same sort of processes in place that a retail store or a gambling parlor or any of the other places that are allowed to continue to be open,” Cameron said.
Beshear believes he is on solid legal ground. The Kentucky Supreme Court has already ruled he has the authority to issue emergency orders. He said the actions he has taken, while difficult, are designed to keep Kentuckians safe from the virus.
“This virus has declared war on us," Beshear said during his Monday coronavirus briefing. "It has taken so many people from us, and our job and what we're doing here in the commonwealth is to fight back."
Cameron said he does not question Beshear’s motivation.
“I agree that we all have a responsibility to abide by the CDC guidelines, but what he has done as it relates to religiously-affiliated schools is tell them they don't even have the chance to do that,” he said.
Cameron denied playing politics with the pandemic.
“I recognize that he is trying to do his job," he said. "I hope he recognizes that I'm trying to do my job in defending the constitutional rights of our citizens.”
Cameron said he sent his request for review to Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who is responsible for the circuit that includes Kentucky. Kavanaugh will decide what happens next with the case, and Cameron said there is no timetable for a decision.
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