HLS 21RS-953 ENGROSSED
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 5
BY REPRESENTATIVES MCCORMICK AND HODGES
Prefiled pursuant to Article III, Section 2(A)(4)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Louisiana.
CRIMINAL/PENALTIES: Suspends criminal penalties for emergency order violations
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To suspend until sixty days after final adjournment of the 2022 Regular Session of the
3 Legislature of Louisiana criminal penalties and restrictions related to the free
4 exercise of religion, including but not limited to R.S. 14:329.6(A)(3), R.S. 29:724(E)
5 and 727(G), and any other criminal penalty or restriction that could be imposed on
6 religious assembly provided for in Title 14, Title 29, or any other Title or Code of
7 the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 that provides a criminal penalty for violations
8 of any COVID-19 proclamation or declaration of emergency order or any other order
9 declared by any state or local official that is related to the free exercise of religion
10 guaranteed by the Constitution of Louisiana and the Constitution of the United States
11 of America.
12 WHEREAS, the Constitution of Louisiana, as provided by Article III, Section 20,
13authorizes the legislature to suspend a law and fix the period of suspension which shall not
14extend beyond the sixtieth day after final adjournment of the next regular session; and
15 WHEREAS, this House Concurrent Resolution is intended to follow the form and
16precedent set forth in Louisiana Chem. Ass'n v. State through Louisiana Dep't of Revenue,
172016-0501 (La. App. 1 Cir. 4/7/17), 217 So. 3d 455, writ denied, 2017-0761 (La. 9/22/17),
18227 So. 3d 826 affirming the legislature's constitutional role to suspend the application of
19certain laws related to certain categories of individuals in House Concurrent Resolution No.
208 of the 2015 Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana; and
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HCR NO. 5
1 WHEREAS, on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the novel
2coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic; and
3 WHEREAS, since March 11, 2020, various executives of the state and local
4governing authorities have issued proclamations to declare a public health emergency due
5to COVID-19 as well as various declarations of disaster related to hurricanes and other
6emergencies; and
7 WHEREAS, in response to the declarations of public health or other emergencies
8various states including Louisiana have issued executive orders at the state and local level
9which restricted attendance to religious services and have directly or indirectly closed
10churches; and
11 WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court in Roman Catholic Diocese of
12Brooklyn v. Cuomo, 141 S. Ct. 63 (2020), struck down the New York governor's COVID-19
13executive order that restricted churches so severely that it effectively closed them down
14while the same executive order allowed secular businesses to operate with few or no
15restrictions. The court further noted that "Catholics who watch a Mass at home cannot
16receive communion. . ." and stated that "But even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be
17put away and forgotten. The restrictions at issue here, by effectively barring many from
18attending religious services, strike at the very heart of the First Amendment's guarantee of
19religious liberty"; and
20 WHEREAS, Louisiana pastors, clergy, and other persons met and continue to meet
21under the assumption that, in America and in Louisiana, their guarantee of religious liberty
22found in the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of Louisiana
23protects their free exercise of religion so that they can ultimately succeed if they follow the
24instruction found in the Holy Bible in Hebrews 10:25 not to engage in "forsaking the
25assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and
26so much the more, as ye see the day approaching"; and
27 WHEREAS, even a technical violation of R.S. 14:329.6, R.S. 29:721, or R.S. 29:727,
28et seq. can impose fines, or imprisonment, or both on any person who violates a governor's,
29mayor's, or parish president's executive order declaring an emergency or disaster, and a two
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1year time limitation on prescription would apply to any violation thereof, pursuant to Code
2of Criminal Procedure Article 572; and
3 WHEREAS, the legislature declares that it is not the intention of the legislature that
4any provision of law which would be construed to authorize the arrest, imprisonment, or
5imposition of a monetary fine against any person in Louisiana for exercising that person's
6constitutionally guaranteed right of free exercise of religion, including but not limited to the
7right to attend or conduct a religious service at a church, house of worship, or one's home
8because such an implementation would violate Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of
9Louisiana and the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America and
10thereby violate the oaths that we took as legislators to uphold the Constitution of Louisiana
11and the Constitution of the United States of America.
12 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana hereby suspends
13all criminal penalties and restrictions related to religious assembly including but not limited
14to R.S. 14:329.6(A)(3), R.S. 29:724(E), R.S. 29:727(G) and any other criminal penalty or
15restriction on religious assembly provided for in Title 14, Title 29, or any other Title or Code
16of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 that provides a criminal penalty for violations of
17any COVID-19 proclamation or declaration of emergency order or any other order declared
18by any state or local official that is related to the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the
19Constitution of Louisiana and the Constitution of the United States of America.
20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this suspension shall become effective upon
21adoption of this Resolution and shall extend through the sixtieth day after final adjournment
22of the 2022 Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 5 Engrossed 2021 Regular Session McCormick
Suspends the enforcement of criminal penalties relative to religious assembly for violation
of R.S. 14:329.6(A)(3), R.S. 29:724(E), R.S. 29:727(G), and all others as they relate to
emergency proclamations and violations of emergency proclamations.
Present law (R.S. 14:329.6(A)(3)) provides that during a state of emergency and following
a proclamation by the governor, the chief law enforcement officer of the political subdivision
affected by the proclamation may, in order to protect life and property and to bring the
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HCR NO. 5
emergency situation under control, promulgate orders affecting any part or all of the
territorial limits of the municipality or parish, which includes regulating and closing of
places of amusement and assembly.
Present law (R.S. 29:724(E)) provides that in the event of an emergency declared by the
governor, any person or representative of any firm, partnership, or corporation violating any
promulgated order, rule, or regulation shall be fined not more than $500 or confined in the
parish jail for not more than six months, or both. Provides that no executive order,
proclamation, or regulation shall create or define a crime or fix penalties.
Present law (R.S. 29:727(G)) provides that in the event of an emergency declared by the
parish president, any person or representative of any firm, partnership, or corporation
violating any promulgated order, rule, or regulation shall be fined not more than $500 or
confined in the parish jail for not more than six months, or both.
(Suspends R.S. 14:329.6(A)(3) and R.S. 29:724(E) and 727(G))
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