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Court allows mass gathering ban on church services

Posted at 10:00 AM, May 03, 2020
and last updated 2020-05-03 10:00:07-04

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A federal appeals court has declined to block the Kentucky governor's temporary ban on mass gatherings from applying to in-person religious services.

The three-judge panel ruled Saturday. It cleared the way for Maryville Baptist Church to hold drive-in worship services while adhering to public health requirements. That’s an alternative Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has encouraged throughout the coronavirus pandemic. But the panel stopped short of applying its order to in-person worship services.

The ruling came after the church asked the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for an emergency order stopping Beshear’s mass gathering ban from being enforced against religious services.