The Rutherford Institute, a non-profit civil liberties organization, has come to the defense of a Fulton County mother barred from attending her son’s Milton High School football games unless she goes against her religious beliefs and obeys the school system’s face mask edict for attendees.
In a letter to Fulton County School Superintendent Mike Looney, Rutherford Institute lawyers argue that Tara Barnett’s request to attend her son’s football games without a face mask while social distancing from other spectators qualifies for a religious accommodation under Gov. Brian Kemp’s executive orders. Those orders require masks to be worn when social distancing is not possible. And spectators at Fulton County public school athletic events must social distance by sitting in designated areas six feet apart from others unless sitting with family members.
“No parent should be forced to choose between abiding by their religious beliefs or exercising their parental rights, especially not when the government has no compelling interest for doing so and when reasonable accommodations can be made,” says constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead, president of the institute. If the governor is willing to accommodate religious beliefs and provide mask exemptions to those who social distance, school officials must do no less.”
Since March, Whitehead notes that Kemp issued three COVID-19 executive orders authorizing government entities to impose “Local Option Face Covering Requirement[s]” mandating that persons “wear face masks or face coverings when not able to maintain social distancing from non-cohabitating persons[.]” Each of the three Orders provides that a local mask requirement “shall not be applied to . . . those who have a bona fide religious objection to wearing a face mask or face covering[.]”
Barnett’s son, a member of the Milton High junior varsity football team, received an email from the school announcing that all spectators at athletic events will be required to wear a face covering and that spectators will be required to social distance at the event venue, i.e., only sit in designated areas and sit six feet apart unless sitting with family. The Rutherford Institute notes that, upon learning of the face covering requirement, Barnett contacted the school’s athletic director and requested an exemption from the mask requirement because of sincere Biblical reasons in opposition to the use of masks or face coverings. The director denied her request.
In its letter to the Fulton system on behalf of Barnett (a practicing Catholic), The Rutherford Institute asserts that denial of her attendance request clearly contradicts Kemp’s orders requiring local face covering rules allow for exemptions based on religious beliefs. That is, any local requirement stricter than the governor’s orders is preempted and violates state law.
Bottom line: In interceding on behalf of Barnett’s parental interests, Rutherford Institute attorneys argue that the Fulton school system not only ignores Georgia law but also violates her right to religious freedom under the First Amendment. As this is written, it isn’t clear if the Fulton school system will back down.
