Does the Coronavirus affect our First Amendment Right?
A lot of states, if not all, have ordered shelter-in-place orders, in hopes of stopping the spread. But recently there have been many protests around major cities where people are coming out to protest these stay at home orders. There are also churches and pastors that are still holding in person church services, with one in Louisiana that had a congregation of 1,800 people that Sunday. Churches have actually been raided by police, and one pastor was arrested in Florida for holding a service.
But can the government actually force us to stay inside, and force churches to close? According to legal experts, yes, they can as long as the regulations for these closures of churches/synagogues/mosques are equal among religious groups and organizations. Although protesters are a hot-topic right now, just because many people want to have their freedom back and for COVID-19 to end, there doesn't seem to be much talk about whether the government actually can or cannot restrict such assemblies. However, there are a few states that have passed anti-protest bills to stop those from continuing the spread. These states include North+South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Tennessee with a few others still in decision. But there are also many states that have struck down said anti-protest bills - one could think this is possibly because it is an infringement on our First Amendment rights.
Although I personally don't condone going out to protest these stay at home orders, I also don't believe the government has the right to enforce so harshly orders of quarantine. We all must recognize that we have the right to go out in public, but these orders are in place because we are trying to stop the spread of COVID-19, and the sooner this spread stops or slows down, the greater chance we will have of not having to protest such orders.
But can the government actually force us to stay inside, and force churches to close? According to legal experts, yes, they can as long as the regulations for these closures of churches/synagogues/mosques are equal among religious groups and organizations. Although protesters are a hot-topic right now, just because many people want to have their freedom back and for COVID-19 to end, there doesn't seem to be much talk about whether the government actually can or cannot restrict such assemblies. However, there are a few states that have passed anti-protest bills to stop those from continuing the spread. These states include North+South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Tennessee with a few others still in decision. But there are also many states that have struck down said anti-protest bills - one could think this is possibly because it is an infringement on our First Amendment rights.
Although I personally don't condone going out to protest these stay at home orders, I also don't believe the government has the right to enforce so harshly orders of quarantine. We all must recognize that we have the right to go out in public, but these orders are in place because we are trying to stop the spread of COVID-19, and the sooner this spread stops or slows down, the greater chance we will have of not having to protest such orders.
https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1777/coronavirus-and-the-first-amendment
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/20/us/protests-coronavirus-stay-at-home-orders/index.html
https://www.aclu.org/issues/free-speech/rights-protesters/anti-protest-bills-around-country
https://www.aclu.org/issues/free-speech/rights-protesters/anti-protest-bills-around-country
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