Wicker Leads Amicus Brief in Support of Religious Freedom in Nation’s Capital

Washington, D.C., Mayor Permits Mass Protests, Discriminates Against Church Gatherings

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U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., filed an amicus brief on behalf of 34 Senators supporting Capitol Hill Baptist Church’s lawsuit against the Mayor of Washington, D.C., Muriel Bowser. Mayor Bowser has permitted and participated in several mass protests in recent months. However, the city’s COVID-19 regulations prohibit a religious gathering of more than 100 individuals outdoors. The Senators argue that the selective enforcement of the District’s rules violates the church’s First Amendment rights and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

The Senators argue in part, “Whether viewed as a matter of free speech, the freedom of assembly, or the free exercise of religion protected by the Constitution and RFRA, the result is the same: The Mayor’s discrimination against houses of worship rests on a mistaken, and unconstitutional, premise that one particular exercise of free speech—a church’s desire to gather together and worship their God—is subordinate to other First Amendment-protected activities. This Court should enforce the First Amendment’s promise of free speech for all by issuing a preliminary injunction to prevent the Mayor and the District of Columbia from prohibiting outdoor religious services that adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols.”

In addition to Wicker, the amicus brief was signed by U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., John Cornyn, R-Texas, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., John Thune, R-S.D., John Barrasso, R-Wyo., James E. Risch, R-Idaho, Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, John Boozman, R-Ark., John Hoeven, R-N.D., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Rand Paul, R-Ky., Tim Scott, R-S.C., Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Bill Cassidy, R-La., James Lankford, R-Okla., Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Steve Daines, R-Mont., David Perdue, R-Ga., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Ben Sasse, R-Neb., John Kennedy, R-La., Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Mike Braun, R-Ind., Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga.

Capitol Hill Baptist Church (CHBC) has been meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., every Sunday for over 142 years. The only previous interruption in Sunday worship was for three weeks in October 1918 during the Spanish flu. When Mayor Bowser issued her original order in March 2020 prohibiting large gatherings because of the COVID-19 pandemic, CHBC complied and discontinued worship services.

The Mayor’s order continues to ban outdoor church services of more than 100 people, regardless of social distancing and mask wearing. At the same time, the Mayor and the District have supported an array of outdoor protests and gatherings by various groups since June 2020.

In June 2020 and again in September, CHBC applied for a waiver of the 100-person limit in order to hold church services outdoors in the District. The District denied the application, stating that waivers for houses of worship were being categorically denied.

CHBC filed a complaint on Tuesday, September 22, 2020.

Click here for a PDF copy of the amicus brief.

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Release from Senator Roger Wicker.