Greenville Mayor Stands By Tyrannical Ban on Drive-In Church Services to Fight Coronavirus

In a press conference on Monday, Greenville, Miss., Mayor Errick Simmons stood by his tyrannical order criminalizing drive-in church services, where parishioners worship in their cars with the windows up. Greenville police infamously ticketed attendees at a drive-in service last Wednesday and then stalked another drive-in service on Thursday. Two religious freedom law firms filed lawsuits in response, claiming Simmons's order violates the Constitution and is unnecessary to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The mayor remained unmoved, however.

Simmons, knowing he faces serious backlash, announced that the city will not be demanding the $500 from the drive-in service attendees ticketed on Wednesday. He also said the city decided not to enforce the order on Easter Sunday.

"On Easter or Resurrection Day, we told our officers to stand down, because we wanted people to enjoy one of the holiest days of the year," Simmons said. "That's our way of loving our faith-based communities and also our way of understanding that 'by his stripes, we are healed.'"

Simmons insisted that the order does not violate citizens' "right to worship" or their "right to assemble."

Arthur Scott, the pastor of the church were attendees were fined $500 each, and Charles E. Hamilton Jr., the pastor of the church police stalked on Thursday, would beg to disagree.

Both pastors have retained legal counsel to hold Simmons accountable for violating their constitutional rights.

ADF Senior Counsel Ryan Tucker responded to Simmons' statements on Monday.

"It’s disappointing to see the city of Greenville continue this unconstitutional, unwarranted ban on drive-in church services," Tucker said. "This church has taken on creative ways to minister to people in its community without access to social media. The city’s order is baseless, and so we intend to continue aggressively pursuing our case against it in court."

The religious freedom law firm First Liberty sent Simmons a demand letter, urging him to retract the order. First Liberty represents Hamilton and claims that the mayor's order violated the pastor's right to free exercise of religion by singling out churches for unusual restrictions.

Jeremy Dys, special counsel for litigation and communications at First Liberty Institute, also condemned Simmons' comments.

Simmons can deny it all he likes, but the ban on drive-in church services clearly violates the First Amendment.

SOURCE