In an orders list released this week, the high court denied a petition from Grace Bible Fellowship.
The refusal to hear the case leaves in place an appeals court panel ruling from earlier this year in favor of Jared Polis, Colorado’s governor.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, several states faced legal complaints over their ongoing lockdown measures, which many argued unfairly imposed greater restrictions on houses of worship as some secular establishments were allowed to remain open.
In 2020, Grace Fellowship of Brighton — then known as Community Baptist Church — and Denver Bible Church were able to get an injunction preventing the state from imposing some lockdown measures that were affecting churches.
Grace Bible Fellowship later filed an amended complaint over the Colorado Disaster Emergency Act, which they believed could be used to impose future unconstitutional gathering restrictions on them.
Over the course of the litigation, Colorado lifted its pandemic restrictions, leading U.S. District Judge Daniel D. Domenico to conclude in March 2023 that the church lacked a case.
Domenico labeled the church’s claims about future government repression over the coronavirus “not plausible,” though he also expressed some concern about state public health laws.