Louisiana Legislature Suspends Criminal Penalties for Pastors

Early in the pandemic last spring, Gov. John Bel Edwards used a provision of Louisiana’s emergency powers law to have Central pastor Tony Spell arrested for holding worship services at Life Tabernacle Church on Hooper Road.

Now, in a surprise move, the Louisiana Legislature has suspended the power of the governor to levy criminal penalties against a pastor in such circumstances.  

Gov. Edwards is now considering what bills passed by the legislature he will sign or veto, but this law is not among them. The legislature used a little-known provision of the Louisiana Constitution to make sure the governor could not veto its actions.  Under Art. 3, Sec. 20, the legislature can by resolution suspend a law, and that is not subject to veto. Rep. Danny McCormick (R-Oil City) authored HCR 5 which passed the House 67-20 and the Senate 23-13.

The resolution provides that all criminal penalties are suspended relative to religious assembly, related to Covid-19 or any other emergency action by the governor. 

The language of the suspension appears to nullify any prosecution of Rev. Spell or any other pastor for actions in the past or present.

The operative language of the legislation is as follows:

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana hereby suspends all criminal penalties and restrictions related to religious assembly including but not limited to R.S. 14:329.6(A)(3), R.S. 29:724(E), R.S. 29:727(G) and any other criminal penalty or restriction on religious assembly provided for in Title 14, Title 29, or any other Title or Code of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 that provides a criminal penalty for violations of any COVID-19 proclamation or declaration of emergency order or any other order declared by any state or local official that is related to the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the Constitution of Louisiana and the Constitution of the United States of America.

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