LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh has given Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear until 4 p.m. Friday to respond to Attorney General Daniel Cameron's request for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a legal challenge of an executive order shutting down in-person learning at the state's religious schools.
Cameron filed an emergency application with the high court Monday, the day after a federal appeals court upheld the governor's order to halt in-person instruction at both public and private schools in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Cameron, who joined Boyle County's Danville Christian Academy in the legal challenge to Beshear’s order, is hoping the Supreme Court will 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 striking down Van Tatenhove's ruling Sunday, however, judges from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said Beshear's order is a legal response to the pandemic and "cannot be plausibly read to contain even a hint of hostility towards religion."
"We are not in a position to second-guess the Governor’s determination regarding the health and safety of the Commonwealth at this point in time," the ruling says.
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 Wednesday, all but six of Kentucky's 120 counties were in the red zone. 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.
Related Stories:
- 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
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