Congregants of churches in Colorado can breathe a little easier after a federal court ruled COVID-19 mask mandates and capacity limits unconstitutional.

 

The lawsuit, brought against the state of Colorado by pastors of two Colorado churches, asserted the mandates violated religious freedom, enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

“The lawsuit calls both the federal government and Colorado leaders into account for their violations of the right to free exercise of religion, among other abuses of power, primarily resulting from Gov. Jared Polis’ COVID-19 related Executive Orders,” said one of the pastors’ attorneys Rebecca Messall.

 

The US district court judge presiding over the case, Daniel D. Domenico, said the Constitution didn’t support Gov. Jared Polis’ mandates requiring everyone 11-years-old and older to wear face masks.

 

“[T]he Constitution does not allow the State to tell a congregation how large it can be when comparable secular gatherings are not so limited, or to tell a congregation that its reason for wishing to remove facial coverings is less important than a restaurant’s or spa’s,” wrote Judge Domenico.

 

Ahead of the judge’s ruling, Denver Bible Church Pastor Bob Enyart slammed the lockdown for being worse than the virus.

 

“It’s like ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’,” the pastor told CBS Denver. “If it was a true emergency, people would be inclined to ignore government orders because of government’s overreach. There’s so much evidence coming out that the lockdown is hurting people.”

 

“We hope other churches will follow along,” he added.

Church attorneys argued the mandates were being selectively and inappropriately applied across “essential” businesses.

 

“Colorado imposes capacity limits on houses of worship that are more severe than those that apply to other so-called critical businesses whose settings pose a similar risk of COVID-19 transmission. The state also allows a variety of exceptions to its facial-covering requirement where it recognizes that removing a mask is necessary to carry out a particular activity.”

 

According to CSIndy.com, “Domenico was nominated to the federal bench by Trump and was confirmed by the Senate in April 2019.”

 

Meanwhile, “the state’s Attorney General filed an emergency motion for an injunction on Monday to keep the orders in place,” reports CBS Denver.