DOJ to look at restrictions placed on religious institutions during pandemic

William Barr.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

A Justice Department official told ABC News on Sunday that Attorney General William Barr is taking a look at "multiple" instances where people who violated social distancing guidelines while trying to attend worship services may have received harsher punishments than others in their community.

Barr is paying attention to two cases in particular, ABC News reports. One is out of Mississippi, where police on Wednesday allegedly ticketed worshippers who attended drive-in services at a Baptist church. The other is from Kentucky, where a federal judge on Saturday granted a temporary restraining order for a church in Louisville that wanted to hold drive-in Easter services.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.