In a statement on Tuesday, Attorney General William Barr criticized the City of Greenville, Miss., for imposing $500 per person fines on congregants who gathered at Temple Baptist Church for a drive-in service over the weekend. Congregants in the parking lot listened to the service on the radio with their windows closed.
Though the city announced earlier this week that it would not require congregants to pay the fines, it stated that the policy banning drive-in services and fining violators would remain in place. But yesterday, Greenville mayor Errick Simmons reversed course and announced that the city will alter its policy and allow residents to attend drive-in services as long as they keep their windows closed. In his statement, Simmons also said that churches in the city are permitted to let up to ten people at a time into services in the building, as long as they follow social-distancing guidelines.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a statement of interest on the subject, taking the side of Temple Baptist Church in its lawsuit against the City of Greenville and noting that, because the city was restricting the fundamental right of free exercise of religion, judges should use strict scrutiny to determine whether the policy in question is constitutional. Barr pointed out in his statement that, because the city had been permitting local restaurants to remain open for drive-in and residents were visiting those restaurants with their car windows open, the fine against congregants was an instance of singling out churches and religious observers for particular restrictions.