BRADENTON – Representing Pastor Joel Tillis, attorney and state Rep. Anthony Sabatini (R-Clermont) announced this morning that a lawsuit has been filed challenging Manatee County’s mandatory face-covering resolution.
The lawsuit names Tillis as the plaintiff and Manatee County as the defendant. Tillis is the pastor of the Suncoast Baptist Church in Palmetto.
The lawsuit complaint was electronically filed late Sunday night in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court and publicly announced at 10 a.m. Monday morning during the Unmasking Liberty Rally held in front of the Manatee County Historic Courthouse.
Adopted by a 4-3 County Commission vote on July 27, the face-covering resolution states, “An individual in a business establishment must wear a face covering.”
The resolution provides several exceptions, including one for those who can maintain 6 feet or more of social distancing inside a business.
The resolution’s definition of “business establishment” includes places of worship.
Chief Assistant County Attorney Bill Clague told commissioners the resolution was based on the Leon County ordinance that has already withstood a court challenge.
The lawsuit seeks emergency injunctive relief and a declaratory judgment. The complaint claims the county resolution is unconstitutional because it violates the privacy, due process and religious freedom clauses in the Florida Constitution.
“Unless an injunction is issued, plaintiff will suffer irreparable harm because his constitutional rights are being violated. Plaintiff seeks declaratory judgment declaring that Resolution 20-116 is illegal and void,” the complaint says.
Lawsuit rally
During Monday’s rally, Sabatini and Tillis addressed approximately 100 mask-less supporters.
Tillis began with a prayer.
“We pray for those that are going through this suffering with COVID-19, but we also pray that your grace would be upon those of us that are suffering the ever-increasing loss of our freedoms,” he said.
Sabatini said, “The mask mandate is illegal because it infringes several parts of the Florida Constitution. We represent a church. Churches should be able to exercise their religion freely. If you want to wear a mask, wear a mask. There’s no controlled study or direct evidence that masks actually work in society.”
Tillis said, “This is not an issue of right or left, Republican or Democrat. This is not even an issue of Trump or Biden. This is an issue of right and wrong.”
He then took exception to churches being defined as businesses.
“They associated the houses of worship somewhere between a Wal-Mart and a Taco Bell and that is unacceptable. We are not a business. And what we stand for is not just for the Christian faith. We stand for all faiths to have their liberty to be able to practice what they believe, apart from interference of the law. This mask resolution effectively interferes with our ability to worship. We also believe that it’s an end-run around rights that were already given to us by the governor. Early on, the governor said churches are essential and this resolution interferes with our essential work in the community. We cannot do our job as ministry under this resolution,” Tillis said.
Additional comments
After his remarks, Tillis was asked about his church services.
“It hasn’t impacted our church because we don’t accept the resolution. We conduct our church as we normally do. We stress that people use whatever precautions they feel necessary in accordance with the CDC guidelines, but we don’t mandate that they do,” Tillis said.
Sabatini said he’s been involved with 14 mask-related lawsuits in Florida, including his unsuccessful legal challenge in Leon County.
“In my case, a trial court judge disagreed in Leon County. Another judge disagreed with another party similar to ours in Palm Beach County. But until this reaches the Florida Supreme Court there is no definitive law and we’re going to fight this all the way, legally and politically,” Sabatini said.
“When contacted Monday afternoon, County Attorney Mickey Palmer said, “As with all lawsuits against county government, the plaintiff can expect an aggressive defense from the Office of the County Attorney.”
