Mask mandates do not violate the First Amendment’s protections for freedom of speech, assembly and association, as I wrote recently in a story that examined Constitution-based objections to mask-wearing requirements.
But a recent lawsuit filed in Florida, Tillis v. Manatee County, raises a different question: Do mask mandates violate the free exercise of religion?
The answer is no. No matter what you believe or why you believe it, the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of religion, known as the Free Exercise Clause, does not exempt you from a public health requirement to wear a mask.
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