Abstract
Each American has his own story about when he learned of the COVID-19 pandemic. For many, that day was March 11, 2020.1 The NBA suspended its season.2 The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.3 And President Trump announced a ban on travel from European countries.4 Few, however, comprehended in March 2020 that over the next few years we would experience perhaps “the greatest intrusions on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country.”5 “Executive officials across the country issued emergency decrees on a breathtaking scale,” “forcing people to remain in their homes” and “shutter[ing] businesses and schools, public and private.”6 These orders tore apart the fabric of communities and directly or indirectly led to the permanent loss of beloved businesses and gathering places.7 As the Tennessee Attorney General Office’s point person for responding to the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandates, my desk was piled high with letters from Americans threatened with the loss of employment and begging someone, anyone, to listen to their cries for help.8 Still, what surprised me most about our Nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was the treatment of churches. For example, the District of Columbia prohibited congregations in our Nation’s capital from gathering either indoors or outdoors while simultaneously “welcom[ing] mass protests to the city.”9 Even in the heartland of the country, government officials attempted to close churches. In the Commonwealth of Kentucky, state police officers acting under the direction of Governor Andy Beshear “surveilled church parking lots, recorded license plates, and issued notices warning that attendance at even outdoor services satisfying all state social-distancing and hygiene requirements could amount to criminal conduct.” These should have been “simple case[s]” for the judiciary to resolve, as many governments allowed secular businesses to engage in comparable activities prohibited for the religious.11 Nevertheless, a disturbing number of federal judges struggled to understand the First Amendment’s protection for “the free exercise” of religion—or perhaps could not find the courage to do so.
Recommended Citation
Hildabrand, Clark L.
(2026)
"Judging Values: Public Confidence in the Federal Courts' Approach to Religion & Morality,"
University of Memphis Law Review: Vol. 55:
Iss.
4, Article 6.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/um-law-review/vol55/iss4/6