The Delaware Supreme Court puts to bed a case against Gov. John Carney, alleging unconstitutional restrictions on religious freedoms during the pandemic.
Two church pastors brought the case in late 2021 claiming restrictions placed on churches by Carney at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic violated their religious freedoms.
The Court of Chancery dismissed the case in 2022 due to a lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Another effort seeking declaratory judgment and damages in Superior Court was dismissed last August.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court agrees the judiciary is not the forum to debate and resolve hypothetical questions regarding the constitutionality of the restrictions, which were lifted long before any legal action was filed.
Widener Delaware Law professor John Culhane explains the plaintiffs brought a “what-if” scenario to the court.
“What the plaintiffs are saying is he could reimpose those restrictions, and the court said, well then bring a suit then," Culhane says. "They are not in effect right now and we only deal with cases and controversies not with hypothetical situations.”
Culhane adds the courts also ruled public officials who act under emergent conditions are immune from personal liability.
But the plaintiffs, represented by the Neuberger firm, still claim victory based on the court’s acknowledgement that their rights likely were violated, and in the future, appellants could win based on a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of religious organizations.
“The court says in retrospect, we can say it was a probable constitutional violation," Culhane says. "Going forward, if a similar situation were to arise, the governor, if he did something similar, it might be found that he violated their constitutional rights.”
