Brazil’s Supreme Court rules that states and municipalities can ban religious services in pandemic

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Federal Supreme Court (STF) yesterday, April 8th, ruled that mayors and governors may ban the holding of in-person religious services as a means to containing the spread of Covid-19.

The Court’s decision does not force the total closure of religious temples. However, governors and mayors who wish to adopt the measure are cleared to do so by the STF.

By 9 votes to 2, the Court validated the decree of São Paulo’s state that vetoed the holding of collective activities for a certain period to prevent crowds.

The majority followed the vote of the rapporteur, Justice Gilmar Mendes, who voted to validate the decree on Wednesday, April 7th.

At the beginning of yesterday’s session, Justice Nunes Marques voted for the illegality of the decrees that determine temples’ total closure. According to the magistrate, besides the health crisis caused by the pandemic, the country is also experiencing a “crisis in individual and collective rights.” For Nunes Marques, the Constitution can’t be temporarily disregarded.

“An atmosphere of intolerance has been created, in which it is no longer possible to talk about people’s rights because this is immediately labeled as negationism and other similar ‘isms’, in a monotonous cantilena that intends to transform into obvious what is only an opinion,” he said.

Last week, in an individual decision, the Justice granted an injunction request by the National Association of Evangelical Jurists (Anajure). It released the cults, provided that the sanitary protocols are respected, such as the maximum occupation of 25%, social distancing, and mandatory use of masks.

Justice Dias Toffoli was the only STF member who followed Marques’ vote.

Justices Alexandre de Moraes, Edson Fachin, Luís Roberto Barroso, Rosa Weber, Cármen Lúcia, Ricardo Lewandowski, Marco Aurélio, and Chief Justice Luiz Fux, also voted in favor of permitting the restriction on services.

In his opinion, Moraes said that the state should not take into account religious issues to make its decisions.

“Religious freedom has a dual function. To protect all faiths and keep the secular state away from having to take into account religious dogmas to make decisions that are fundamental to its citizens’ survival. The state does not meddle with faith; faith does not meddle with the state,” he said.

Solicitor General of Brazil

On Wednesday, April 7th, at the beginning of the trial, Solicitor General André Mendonça, the front-runner in the race for the next seat on the STF to be appointed by President Bolsonaro, said that the Federal Constitution disagrees with religious temples’ absolute closure. During his speech, he also criticized curfew measures adopted by mayors and governors, echoing Bolsonaro’s position.

“Curfew measures are incompatible with the democratic rule of law. It is not a measure of disease prevention; it is a measure of repression typical of totalitarian states,” he said.

Source: Infomoney