Peabody Contractor's Challenge To Gov. Baker's Orders Dismissed

PEABODY, MA — A Peabody man's court challenge that Gov. Charlie Baker's coronavirus restrictions infringe upon his religious rights was dismissed in US District C0urt.

Judge William Young ruled "stopping the spread of society-threatening disease is 'unquestionably' a compelling interest" and that Vincent Delaney's assertion that church capacity limits infringed on his rights of freedom of religion were unfounded because they are “devoid of any evidence that Delaney was ever denied access to his parish church, let alone that such a denial was due to Governor Baker's occupancy limit.”

The determination was that since the denial of entry was only hypothetical based on the state restrictions of limiting public gatherings, Delaney suffered no actual injuries and that his allegations "amount to a generalized grievance about the conduct of the government."

The religious freedom suit was the one that remained from Delaney's original lawsuit filed in June aimed at overturning all of Baker's business and coronavirus mandates as "irrational, arbitrary and capricious." Delaney's original 82-page complaint argued his work as an HVAC contractor with restaurants was negatively affected through the shutdown and ongoing restrictions that made it hard for businesses to reopen at full capacity in the spring.

Among the remaining allegations was that the 6-foot social distancing rule when around those not from the same household violated Delaney's freedom of religion because it prevented him from exchanging the traditional Catholic expressions of peace — typically a handshake with nearby churchgoers.

But the Court dismissed that as well, saying that the Archdiocese of Boston voluntarily changed its guidelines independently of Baker's orders in its efforts to ensure parishioner safety.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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