FALLS CHURCH, Va. -- A judge in southwest Virginia has rejected a lawsuit that sought to carve ought a religious exemption to Governor Ralph Northam’s executive order requiring people to stay at home.
Russell County resident Larry Hughes filed the lawsuit this week. He said the governor’s stay-at-home order infringed on his religious freedom and sought an exception that would allow attendance at Easter services this Sunday.
Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring’s office defended the executive order during a hearing Thursday.
Russell County Circuit Court Judge Michael Moore left the executive order intact at the conclusion of the hearing.