SPELL v. EDWARDS

No. 20-30358.

962 F.3d 175 (2020)

Mark Anthony SPELL; Life Tabernacle Church, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. John Bel EDWARDS, in his individual capacity and his official capacity as Governor of the State of Louisiana; Roger Corcoran, in his individual capacity and official capacity as Chief of Police of Central City, Louisiana; Sid Gautreaux, individually and in his official capacity as Sheriff of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, Defendants-Appellants.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

FILED June 18, 2020.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Roy Moore, Foundation for Moral Law, Montgomery, AL, Jeffrey Scott Wittenbrink , Wittenbrink Law Firm, Baton Rouge, LA, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

James M. Garner, Esq. , Darnell Bludworth, Esq. , Christopher T. Chocheles , Joshua Simon Force , Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, L.L.C., New Orleans, LA, Jack M. Weiss, Esq. , New Orleans, LA, Matthew F. Block , Office of the Governor for the State of Louisiana, Baton Rouge, LA, for Defendant-Appellee John Bel Edwards.

Sheri Marcus Morris, Esq. , Daigle, Fisse & Kessenich, Baton Rouge, LA, Kirk Norris Aurandt, Esq. , Daigle Fisse & Kessenich, Covington, LA, for Defendant Appellee Roger Corcoran.

Tara L. Johnston , Ashley Michelle Caruso , Mary G. Erlingson, Esq. , Erlingson Banks, P.L.L.C., Baton Rouge, LA, for Defendant-Appellee Sid Gautreaux.

Alex J. Luchenitser , Richard Brian Katskee , Legal Director, Americans United for Separation of Church & State, Washington, DC, William P. Quigley , Loyola University, School of Law, New Orleans, LA, for Amid Curiae Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Anti-Defamation League, Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Interfaith Alliance Foundation, Jewish Social Policy Action Network, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, Men of Reform Judaism, Reconstructing Judaism, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, Texas Impact, Texas Interfaith Center for Public Policy, Union for Reform Judaism, Women of Reform Judaism.

Before SMITH, COSTA, and HO, Circuit Judges.


COVID-19 has brought another appeal to our court. A Louisiana church and its pastor ask us enjoin stay-at-home orders restricting in-person church services to ten congregants. But there is nothing for us to enjoin. The challenged orders expired more than a month ago. That means this appeal and the related request for...

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