Beshear defends order halting in-person classes at religious schools to Supreme Court

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear responded Friday to a request that the U.S. Supreme Court hear a legal challenge of his executive order shutting down in-person learning at the state's religious schools. 

The Democratic governor's legal counsel argued that the high court should reject Attorney General Daniel Cameron's request to review the case, in effect upholding a ruling from a federal appeals court that said the executive order is a legal response to the pandemic and "cannot be plausibly read to contain even a hint of hostility towards religion" because it applies to both public and private schools. 

"Confronting an airborne, infectious disease is a collective endeavor — COVID-19 cares little if a child attends a religious or secular school," Beshear's legal team wrote in the response to Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. "The risks emanating from in-person instruction at K-12 schools are unique and extend to students, staffs, and their families; community members who interact with these individuals; and those who are unable to obtain treatment for other illnesses because hospitals have curtailed procedures or closed operating rooms."

In opposition to the governor, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky announced they along with 36 Republican colleagues planned to submit a brief to the high court in support of Cameron's legal challenge. 

"Everyone understands this has been a challenging time for local leaders, but pandemics don’t erase our First Amendment rights," McConnell said in a statement. "Courts have repeatedly had to defend Americans of faith from overzealous officials who have tried to treat religious institutions in a uniquely disfavored way relative to other parts of society. Enough is enough. I am proud that Kentucky’s own Attorney General Daniel Cameron is leading the way to defend the religious liberty of Kentuckians and all Americans."

Cameron, who joined Boyle County's Danville Christian Academy in the legal challenge to Beshear’s order, is hoping the Supreme Court will take the case and uphold U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove's Nov. 25 ruling that struck down the measure as it applies to religious schools. The attorney general argues that the governor forcing religious schools to pause in-person classes goes against the First Amendment's 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 told WDRB News on Tuesday. "That is intertwined in the curriculum that is taught there."

In response to that argument, Beshear's legal team wrote, "To single out religious schools for special treatment, at a time when so many parents are making sacrifices to carry out the painful but necessary task of virtual education, would risk undermining the ideals of peaceful coexistence and religious pluralism. Some may start to equate 'religious freedom' with an aversion to public health guidance."

"Kentucky is in the midst of a deadly third wave of the coronavirus. We have take the necessary actions to slow the growth in cases and save the lives of our fellow Kentuckians," Beshear said in a statement posted to Twitter on Friday. "In the most recent executive order regarding schools, every school is treated equally and each is asked to its part over a limited period of time to slow the spread of the virus. The effectiveness of these actions requires everyone to take part, and anyone or any entity that tries to be the exception lessens the effectiveness of the steps." 

Beshear's order allows elementary schools to reopen on Dec. 7 if the county they are located in isn't in the "red zone," averaging 25 or more daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. As of Friday, all but six of Kentucky's 120 counties were in the red zone, according to data from Kentucky Department for Public Health. Schools that do reopen must follow the state's "Healthy At School" guidelines. Middle and high schools are expected to conduct virtual learning until at least Jan. 4, 2021.

To read Beshear's response to the Supreme Court in full, click here. 

Related Stories: 

• Kavanaugh gives Beshear deadline to respond to Kentucky religious schools lawsuit before US Supreme Court
• Cameron says he's 'trying to do his job' by challenging Beshear's order closing religious schools
• Cameron appeals to US Supreme Court in fight with Beshear over closing religious schools amid pandemic
• Appeals court allows Beshear to pause in-person learning at Kentucky's religious schools
• Federal judge rules Gov. Beshear can't prohibit in-person classes at religious, private schools
• Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron joins lawsuit challenging Beshear's pandemic restriction on in-person classes
• Gov. Beshear orders public, private schools to close classrooms starting Monday

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