The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- District of Columbia
- Level
- Court
- Authority
- Religious Freedom Restoration Act, 42 U.S.C. sec. 2000bb et seq.; Fed. R. Civ. P. 65
- Issued
- 2020-10-09 Oct. 9, 2020
- Effective
- 2020-10-09
- End
- not applicable (judicial decision) (read as 2020-12-31)
- In force
- Oct. 9, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2020
- Quarters
- 2020 Q4
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Gathering capEvents and venuesOther
- Addressees
- places of worship; persons generally; by the court's description, every business and organization subject to the Mayor's Orders
- Character
- adjudication
- Collection
- Standing duties: District of Columbia DUT-DC
Operative words
Should it choose to contravene the District's restrictions, the Church risks incurring civil and administrative penalties, see Mayor's Order 2020-075 at 12, including fines of $1,000 per violation, D.C. Code sec. 7-2307.
Penalty
Civil and administrative penalties under D.C. Code sec. 7-2307, 'including fines of $1,000 per violation', and summary suspension or revocation of licences, as recited by the court
What it required
The court's account of the District's regime: Mayor's Orders 2020-045, 2020-046, 2020-053 and 2020-075 and the Phase Two Guidance for Places of Worship capped religious gatherings at 100 persons indoors or out; those who 'knowingly violate' the restrictions 'may be subject to civil and administrative penalties authorized by law, including sanctions or penalties for violating D.C. Code sec. 7-2307, including civil fines or summary suspension or revocation of licenses' (Mem. Op. at 3-4); because contravention is unlawful and penalized, the restrictions impose a substantial burden (at 10-11), and the court enjoined their enforcement against the Church's outdoor, masked, distanced services. Character as recorded: adjudication (order_penalty layer).
Retrieval noteOfficial opinion from govinfo (26 pp.). The decision confirms, from the bench, that the District's gathering and operating restrictions were binding law enforced by fines and licence sanctions, which the District applied to a congregation seeking to meet outdoors with masks and distancing; nothing in the District's regime operated by invitation.