US warns Nevada governor about in-person worship limits

The Trump administration is warning Nevada's Democratic governor that his plan for reopening the state during recovery from the coronavirus fails to treat religious and secular gatherings equally.

In a letter sent Monday to Gov. Steve Sisolak, the head of the Justice Department's civil rights division took issue with the first phase of Sisolak's guidelines for restarting economic and social activity in the state.

That phased-in reopening restricts the size of in-person worship services, while allowing restaurants and other secular establishments to reopen with less stringent occupancy restrictions, the federal official said.

“We understand these directives were issued in the midst of an uncertain situation, which may have required quick decisions based on changing information,” Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband wrote to Sisolak. ”We are concerned, however, that the flat prohibition against ten or more persons gathering for in-person worship services — regardless of whether they maintain social distancing guidelines — impermissibly treats religious and nonreligious organizations unequally."

One of the nearly 200 churches that asked Sisolak in a May 14 letter to lift the ban on in-person worship services filed a lawsuit in federal court in Reno last Friday seeking a restraining order prohibiting the state from enforcing the ban.

Lawyers for Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley in rural Lyon County east of Reno said the Christian church has patiently waited more than two months for Sisolak to restore its First Amendment freedoms.

But “instead of prioritizing religious freedom, the governor has moved `non-essential’ secular businesses and activities to the front of the line and pushed churches towards the back,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit highlighted...