An Illinois pastor who sued Gov. J.B. Pritzker over the state’s stay-at-home order says he plans to take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court despite a federal court order denying his motion for a temporary restraining order, reports the Alton Daily News.
Stephen Cassell has repeatedly defied the state’s ban on large gatherings amid the coronavirus pandemic, and since reopening The Beloved Church in Lena on March 31, has received bomb and death threats.
Cassell tried to get a judge to rule that Pritzker’s stay-at-home order is unconstitutional but came up short last week when U.S. District Judge John Z. Lee rejected the church’s request for a temporary restraining order and sided with Pritzker.
In his ruling, Lee pointed out that limiting gatherings to 10 people or going online are “imperfect substitutes for an in-person service where all eighty members of Beloved Church can stand together, side-by-side, to sing, pray, and engage in communal fellowship.”
But, he said the order “passes constitutional muster.”
Cassell moved his services to social media platforms after he was given a cease-and-desist order on March 31 by the Stephenson County Department of Health.