A federal judge on Thursday ruled that Washington, D.C.’s coronavirus restrictions that limited occupancy at church services to 25 percent capacity or a 250-person cap were unconstitutional.
Judge Trevor N. McFadden found that the district’s rules made it an outlier in comparison to the rest of the country: 37 states have no numerical or percentage caps on attendance at houses of worship.
The ruling, which comes just over one week before Easter, allows D.C. houses of worship to host as many worshippers as can safely attend wearing masks and social distancing.
The decision comes after the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington sued Mayor Muriel Bowser in December over the district’s limits on houses of worship after the Supreme Court ruled in November that uniquely restrictive lockdown policies on churches were unconstitutional.
