A federal judge in Baltimore has rejected a lawsuit seeking to overturn Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s stay-at-home order, saying that restrictions on large gatherings and closures of certain businesses were broadly justified as part of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a 32-page decision issued on Wednesday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sided with Hogan’s arguments that he needed to impose the restrictions — which included a prohibition on gatherings of more than 10 people and the shuttering of non-essential businesses and churches — as a means to stop the spread of the virus.

“Slowing the spread of COVID-19 is a compelling government interest,” she wrote.

The lawsuit was filed earlier this month by a group of Republican state delegates, religious leaders, the Reopen Maryland group, and business owners who say that Hogan was unfairly picking which businesses could remain open during the pandemic and that he was unconstitutionally infringing upon people’s rights to assemble and worship.

But in her decision, Blake indirectly criticized the filers of the lawsuit for ignoring evidence that COVID-19 is highly infectious and has caused deaths in Maryland, and said that the restrictions on gatherings of more than 10 people — whether inside a church or at a protest — were broadly justified by the health emergency.

“Because of the ease with which COVID-19 spreads, and because asymptomatic individuals may spread the virus, a gathering larger than ten people poses an increased risk that more people will get the virus if one of the attendees has it,” she said.

She also opined that Hogan’s order — which has since been loosened as part of a phased reopening of parts of the state — gave Maryland residents enough options to peaceably assemble and worship.

“[Del. Dan] Cox and Reopen Maryland, for instance, may still protest in groups of ten or fewer, and can also communicate information in other ways such as through the Internet, newspaper, or signs. Similarly, religious organizations may perform services in groups of ten or fewer people, virtually, or through drive-in services,” she wrote. “The court understands that these alternatives might not carry the same force as a large rally or an in-person religious service with all congregants. But, especially in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, sufficient alternatives are available.”

Blake also rejected claims from a private campground and an adventure park that Hogan’s order discriminated against them, saying that businesses that were allowed to remain open — including grocery stores and hardware stores — offered essential services and goods normal residents need to make it through the pandemic.

The lawsuit was part of a small yet vocal movement that urged governors and mayors across the U.S. to “reopen” and lift stay-at-home orders. Similar lawsuits have been filed in Virginia (to mixed results), Wisconsin, Illinois, Arizona, California and others. Attorney General William Barr has also jumped into the fight, threatening to join lawsuits against states whose stay-at-home orders could infringe on constitutional liberties. The Department of Justice has already intervened on behalf of a Virginia resident who says the state’s restrictions violate his right to worship freely.

On Wednesday, the Virginia State Supreme Court tossed out the appeal of the owner of two Gold’s Gym locations who challenged Gov. Ralph Northam’s authority to close down fitness clubs during the commonwealth’s state of emergency.

Del. Cox, who has drawn attention for apparently siding with a conspiracy theory accusing Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates of creating the novel coronavirus, said on Facebook that he plans on appealing Blake’s decision.

“We are on our way to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals,” he wrote on Facebook.