Palmetto pastor drops COVID-19 lawsuit against lawsuit after Manatee modifies mandate
Now that the Manatee County Commission has resolved his main concern, a local pastor is dropping his lawsuit against Manatee County over the COVID-19 mask mandate.
Rev. Joel Tillis, senior pastor at Suncoast Baptist Church, 1816 10th St. W., Palmetto, first announced legal action against the county at the end of July, citing an undue burden on churches, mosques, synagogues and other religious temples. Less than a month later, on Aug. 25, the Board of County Commissioners voted 6-1 to exempt houses of worship from mask requirements.
“I am thankful for the Board’s willingness to re-visit this matter and listen to the needs of the houses of worship in their community,” Tillis wrote in an email to the board Tuesday afternoon. “I’m glad it did not have to come to a trial and we can put this matter to rest.”
Tillis, along with a handful of residents, attended the Aug. 25 meeting to speak out against the mandate’s application within any religious space.
“I do not call into question the intent of your resolution, but I do call into question the unintended consequences of your decision,” Tillis said at the meeting, arguing that the mask mandate gives his churchgoers “less right to worship.”
On Aug. 3, Tillis and state Rep. Anthony Sabatini, R-Howey-in-the-Hills, hosted an anti-mask protest attended by more than 100 people outside of the Manatee County Courthouse. Sabatini is representing Tillis in his lawsuit and is active in several other COVID-19 lawsuits throughout Florida.
While some commissioners said they felt it was dangerous to attend church without a mask, board members voted to remove the requirement within houses of worship.
According to Tillis, Sabatini has been instructed to withdraw the lawsuit sometime this week.
On Monday, the County Attorney’s Office filed a 29-page motion urging a judge to dismiss the case, citing a mask’s crucial role in limiting the spread of the novel coronavirus during a public health emergency.
This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 6:31 PM.
