Appeals Court dismisses case of woman who was ordered by cops to stop praying in her home

An appeals court has dismissed the case of a Christian woman who sued two police officers from the city of Louisburg, Kansas for allegedly ordering her to stop praying in her own home.

On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals voted to uphold the dismissal of a case filed by Mary Anne Sause against two police officers, who allegedly demanded to be allowed into her home and told her to stop praying while they investigated a noise complaint.

The judges found that Sause's First Amendment rights had been violated, but they ruled that the police officers had what is known as "qualified immunity," which shields them from any liability for their actions.

"We assume that the defendants violated Sause's rights under the First Amendment when, according to Sause, they repeatedly mocked her, ordered her to stop praying so they could harass her, threatened her with arrest and public humiliation, insisted that she show them the scars from her double mastectomy, and then 'appeared...disgusted' when she complied – all over a mere noise complaint," Judge Nancy Moritz wrote in an opinion, according to The Christian Post.

Moritz contended that court's assumption does not entitle Sause to relief and that she must first demonstrate that "any reasonable officer" would have known that such actions violated the First Amendment.

"But while the conduct alleged in this case may be obviously unprofessional, we can't say that it's 'obviously unlawful,'" the judge added.

Moritz noted that Sause cannot seek monetary damages because of the police officers' qualified immunity. It further stated that she lacked the standing to amend her lawsuit to seek an injunction against the police.

Chief Judge Timothy Tymkovich stated in his concurring opinion that Sause's complaint would "fit more neatly" within the context of the Fourth Amendment, which protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures.

Sause's attorneys with the First Liberty Institute stated in a press release that the government defended the police officers by arguing that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment only "protects an individual's right to choose a religion." The lawyers contended that the government's argument misconstrues the fact that the First Amendment protects the right to exercise faith.

First Liberty Institute Deputy General Counsel Jeremy Dys maintained that the court's "harsh criticism of the officers' conduct in this case supports our First Amendment claim."

According to Charisma, Sause's case was remanded back to the district court with instructions to dismiss without prejudice. She is still allowed to bring a claim against the police officers on the basis of Fourth Amendment violations as Tymkovich indicated in his concurring opinion.