The liberal college town of Moscow, Idaho, has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by Christians who were arrested while maskless at an outdoor church service during the pandemic.
The trio—Gabriel Rench and Sean and Rachel Bohnet—sued the city in March of 2021, arguing their First and Fourth Amendment rights were violated when they were arrested at the Psalm Sing, which was organized as a protest against a City Council-imposed mask mandate.
Rench and the others were charged with violating the city's repeatedly extended health ordinance, which carved out exemptions for activities protected under the U.S. Constitution and the Idaho State Constitution, including religious activity.
A magistrate judge later dismissed the city's case against them, and U.S. District Court Judge Morrison C. England, Jr., wrote in his Feb. 1, 2023 memorandum and order denying the city's motion to dismiss that the "plaintiffs should never have been arrested in the first place, and the constitutionality of what the City thought [its] code said is irrelevant."
"Somehow, every single City official involved overlooked the exclusionary language [of constitutionally protected behavior] in the Ordinance," the judge further wrote.
Rench told Fox News Digital that he has nevertheless become a pariah in his predominantly liberal community since the arrest and subsequent settlement. Rench says members of his community have accused him of being "an idiot" who does not "love his neighbor" and have urged him to "take your money and run" since the payout. (Fox News Digital)
While there was no apology from the city, Moscow said its liability insurance provider "determined that a financial settlement in the case was the best course of action to dispose of the suit and avoid a protracted litigation proceeding," according to a press release obtained by Fox News Digital.
"Under the terms of the settlement agreement, ICRMP will pay a total settlement amount of $300,000 and all claims against the City and the named City employees will be dismissed with prejudice along with a release of all liability," the release added, noting that the city was attempting "to protect the public during an exceptionally trying time."
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