Life Hangs in the Balance: Weighing Coronavirus Church Closings Against the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act
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On March 27, the Hillsborough County Emergency Policy Group unanimously issued an order restricting the gatherings of non-essential businesses and services. The Rev. Rodney Howard-Browne responded that he would only cancel church services for the Rapture and that pastors who canceled services were pansies. After holding church services on March 29, Howard-Browne was arrested for unlawful assembly and violating the public health emergency order. This paper analyzes how Florida's strict RFRA statute would likely apply to such an act.