Gov. Andy Beshear is waving away a federal lawsuit claiming his latest virus-related orders dealing with home gatherings amount to "criminalizing family dinners" at Thanksgiving.
Attorneys for plaintiffs in the new case argue the administration's orders limiting social gatherings to a maximum of two households and a maximum of eight people are too vague — leaving questions about whether the number eight applies to one household or the total group.
At a briefing, Beshear dismissed the legal challenge as a distraction that's taking energy away from the fight against COVID.
"Nobody is saying that a family of ten can't continue to live together to eat together. What we're saying is if one family wants to have another family over, it's only two households — two groups that live under the same roof — and eight people total in that group," the governor said. "To suggest we we were saying you can't have dinner with a large family is ridiculous."
But attorneys say the order was poorly drafted, and they're joining a number of private religious schools that are also challenging the virus-related orders. The plaintiffs in that case argue Beshear's statewide closure of K-12 schools runs counter to constitutional and state protections dealing with religion.
