The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Saturday evening that a Republican-dominated legislative panel exceeded its authority when it tried to overturn the Democratic governor's executive order banning religious and funeral services of more than 10 people during the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision came after the justices heard oral arguments one day before Easter, which is typically the busiest day on the Christian calendar in terms of church attendance. The Saturday hearing was the court's first conducted completely via video conferencing. The court ruled that legislative action designed to give the legislative leadership panel the ability to overrule Gov. Laura Kelly's executive orders was flawed.
The Republican House leadership responded Saturday evening to the decision.
In a statement, Speaker Ron Ryckman from Olathe, Majority Leader Dan Hawkins from Wichita, and Speaker Pro Tem Blaine Finch from Ottawa said: "We want to thank Chief Justice Luckert and the Members of the Kansas Supreme Court for their prompt consideration of the issues raised in the Governor's lawsuit, and we honor the Court's decision. The question was never whether people should gather in church during these times. The answer to that is clearly no. The question was whether people should be arrested and jailed for going to church. The Governor believed they should be. We think that goes too far. The Court went a different direction in the Governor's lawsuit and instead focused on the emergency disaster resolution itself. So, while the Governor can now move forward with the criminal provision she sought on churches, we're more concerned about the bigger picture. The Court's decision causes the state's emergency disaster declaration to expire on May 1, which could jeopardize federal disaster relief funding. While everyone is hopeful this pandemic subsides soon, the reality is a longer period of emergency disaster authority will likely be needed in order to protect Kansans and our state's relief funding. The Governor's decision to go to court instead of compromise has created a new level of uncertainty that does nothing to help our state through this crisis. Working together is the only way we address that uncertainty, protect the health of our state, and save people's lives."
