Joshua Freed’s Washington Pandemic Lawsuit: Claims, Requests, Outcome

Joshua Freed’s pandemic lawsuit was an April 2020 federal complaint filed by the former Bothell mayor and Republican candidate for governor against Washington Governor Jay Inslee, challenging the state’s stay-at-home order for banning religious gatherings while exempting scores of commercial activities. The case never reached a ruling on its constitutional claims: Freed’s attorneys withdrew a key motion after the state attorney general clarified that the socially distanced prayer sessions he wanted to hold were already allowed under existing exemptions.¹

What the Lawsuit Claimed

Freed filed a 12-page complaint on April 22, 2020, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, targeting Executive Order GP 20-25, Inslee’s stay-at-home directive that prohibited gatherings for spiritual purposes.² He was represented by First Liberty Institute, a legal group focused on religious liberty.

The complaint raised four constitutional arguments:

Free Exercise: the order was neither neutral nor generally applicable, singling out religious gatherings while permitting retail shopping, construction, and outdoor recreation.
Free Speech: the order restricted religious expression and gave officials unchecked enforcement discretion.
Assembly: the blanket ban on gatherings of more than one person outside a household violated the right to peaceably assemble.
Due Process.³⁴

The core theory was selective enforcement. Freed’s filing noted the order exempted 162 categories of commercial and recreational activity, including cannabis retailers, while expressly forbidding religious gatherings of two or more people. He also pointed to an unsuppressed protest of roughly 2,500 people at the state capitol as evidence of a double standard between secular and religious gatherings.⁴ Publicly, Freed called the order a “gross abuse of power” and a “blatant violation of Constitution,” and questioned why someone could visit a marijuana shop or grocery store using distancing but could not practice faith with the same precautions.⁵

What Freed Asked the Court to Do

Freed sought a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction, and a permanent injunction barring the state from enforcing the portion of GP 20-25 that banned spiritual gatherings. He also asked the court to formally declare the restrictions unconstitutional under the Free Exercise, Free Speech, Assembly, and Due Process clauses.⁵ In practical terms, he said he wanted to host a regular Bible study group at his home using social distancing.

How the Case Ended

The court never reached the constitutional merits. On May 8, 2020, Freed’s attorneys withdrew the motion that would have allowed him to conduct one-on-one, socially distanced backyard prayer sessions. The withdrawal followed assurances from the Washington Attorney General’s Office that such conduct was already permissible under the stay-at-home order’s existing exemption for religious counseling.¹ Fox 13 reported at the time that the broader lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the gathering restrictions remained active. No further rulings in the case appear in the available record.

Where It Fit in the Broader Litigation Over Inslee’s Orders

Freed’s suit was one of many. By August 2020, the Washington Attorney General’s Office had defended against 17 challenges to the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” proclamation and related orders. No court granted relief limiting the governor’s directives, and more than 10 motions for temporary restraining orders or preliminary injunctions were denied. Judges called various plaintiffs’ arguments “frivolous,” “unpersuasive,” and “completely devoid of merit.”⁶

The U.S. Supreme Court’s treatment of similar claims shifted over the same period. In May 2020, days before Freed’s motion was withdrawn, the Court declined to block California’s worship capacity limits in South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom, with Chief Justice Roberts writing that officials get “especially broad” latitude amid medical and scientific uncertainty.⁷ In February 2021, the Court reversed course and enjoined California’s total ban on indoor worship, holding that regulations singling out religion must survive strict scrutiny.⁸ That later ruling tracked the type of argument Freed had raised, but it came well after the practical window for his own case had passed.

Who Joshua Freed Is

Freed served as mayor of Bothell, a city in Snohomish County northeast of Seattle. He is a real estate developer, a licensed marriage and family counselor, and the founder of Globe Leadership, a Christian organization that coordinates mission trips to countries including Kenya, Israel, and the Philippines.⁵

In 2020 he ran in the Republican primary for governor against Inslee and fellow Republicans Loren Culp, Tim Eyman, and Phil Fortunato, finishing third on August 4 with roughly nine percent of the vote. After that loss he launched a write-in campaign for lieutenant governor.⁹

1
Fox 13 Seattle. GOP Candidate Withdraws Motion Challenging Inslee Order
2
The Seattle Times. GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Joshua Freed Sues Inslee Over Coronavirus Ban on Religious Gatherings
3
First Liberty Institute. TRO Memorandum
4
KOMO News. GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Sues Inslee Over Stay-Home Order
5
ClarkCountyToday.com. Gubernatorial Candidate Sues Gov. Inslee in Federal Court for Blatant Violation of Constitution
6
Washington State Attorney General. Gov. Inslee, AG Ferguson Announce Update on Challenges to Governor’s Emergency Powers
7
Cornell Law Institute. South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom
8
Supreme Court of the United States. South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom (2021)
9
The Seattle Times. Former Bothell Mayor Joshua Freed Announces Write-In Campaign for Lieutenant Governor