Breaking: Update on Sean Feucht v Spokane
On August 5, 2024, the City of Spokane filed a Motion to Dismiss this case. Mr. Feucht filed his response to the Motion on September 3, 2024.
Case Recap
On August 20, 2023, Sean Feucht came to Spokane for his Let Us Worship event, a time of worshipping Jesus, seeking repentance and redemption through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and praying for our nation. Sean was joined by thousands from the area, including Spokane City Mayor, Nadine Woodward, who received prayer and encouragement. How did the City Council respond to this constitutionally-protected and positive event? The response of Spokane, Washington to Mr. Feucht’s presence, prayer, worship and preaching of the gospel was for its City Council to condemn his beliefs, worship, speech, and prayer, which it did through the preparation, drafting, and adoption of Resolution No. 2023-0081, adopted September 25, 2023. This resolution was introduced by Spokane City Council members Zack Zappone and Betsy Wilkerson to “formally denounce” the Spokane City Mayor, Nadine Woodward, for associating with Sean Feucht at his August 20, 2023 worship event. We lay out the clear violations of the constitution on our website: Sean Feucht v Spokane
Here’s how the City attempted to dismiss the case:
1. They claim Mr. Feucht cannot bring this case as he lacks standing (the legal ability to bring a lawsuit) as he was not harmed by the Resolution, nor did it cause him to cease his activities (preaching).
2. They claim the Constitution affords no claim against local governments and lawmakers for taking positions on matters of public concern through legislation.
3. They claim Mr. Feucht cannot recover damages under the legal theories he plead.
4. They claim the Spokane City Council is immune from lawsuits related to their legislative authority (in other words, the council cannot be sued for issuing ordinances and resolutions).
Additionally, the City claimed that the case should be dismissed from federal court (notably, we filed the case in State court and the City moved it to federal court).
You can access and download the Motion to Dismiss filed by the City of Spokane HERE.
In response to these claims, we argued that the case should NOT be dismissed for the following reasons:
1. The Resolution censured Mr. Feucht for his religious beliefs and speech, and the Resolution was an act of punishment that violated Mr. Feucht’s Free Exercise, Free Speech, Free Association, and Establishment Clause rights. The Free Exercise Clause requires the government to stay neutral on a person’s religion.
2. The City cannot defend its actions by asserting its “right to speak” against the mayor, who was a council-member at that time. By punishing Spokane’s mayor for associating with Mr. Feucht the City communicated to all government officials that they could be punished for publicly associating with Mr. Feucht.
3. The Resolution was a hostile government act against Mr. Feucht’s religious beliefs and practice of religion as it condemns his religious views on homosexuality, his prayer to the Holy Spirit, and his religious language. It required a showing that an individual’s religion agree with the City’s LBGTQ views before they associate with the mayor. The Resolution was specifically designed and intended to burden and shed negative light on anyone whose religion cannot pass that test. This violates the Establishment Clause and is not allowed.
The Establishment clause not only prohibits the government from establishing an official religion, but also prohibits government actions that unduly favor one religion over another.
4. The Resolution was a retaliatory act with the main purpose of coercing Mr. Feucht to stop espousing his religious speech.
In addition to the arguments, above, we reminded the Court that even before the adoption of the Establishment clause, they wrote into the Constitution, “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” (US Constitution Article VI, Clause 3). We also noted that the defendants did not even pause to consider their high duty to the Constitution and the rights it secures.
The points above highlight the importance of this case: whether you agree with Mr. Feucht’s speech, he has the guaranteed right to free speech, association, and exercise of religion. When the City of Spokane named him as an anti-LGBTQ extremist in a Resolution censuring the mayor, it clearly sought to harm Mr. Feucht and evidenced the city council’s desire that Mr. Feucht not return to worship in Spokane. This case shows that we must remain vigilant in our communities, and we must hold our leaders accountable to their oaths to the Constitution.
Below is our Response to the Motion to Dismiss. You may also access this document on our website.
Next Steps
The next step will be for the City to file a Reply brief, which allows them to respond to our Response. A Motion to Dismiss will throw out the case entirely or will remove some of the claims Mr. Feucht raised in his complaint.
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Yall seem to be doing a good work. I’ve been here 2 1/2 years from Texas. I got married then and I’ve been learning a lot from my husband about Washington politics. I was involved in elections in Texas off and on for years the last 2 cycles I was a poll judge during the 20/21 mess.
This case is unbelievable to me.
I believe God has a reason for everything.
Keep up the good fight of faith
Jena
Thank you, Pete and your team for standing up for what’s right and not letting people get away with destroying other peoples lives just because they don’t agree with their beliefs or the religious practices. I’m sure this is costly with court and attorneys fees. Someone from the Spokane group needs to pay.