US: SCOTUS religious challenge ruling shape of things to come

The court’s newest justice, Amy Coney Barrett, cast the decisive vote in a majority decision that means the state is temporarily barred from enforcing certain attendance limits on houses of worship in areas where the virus is especially prevalent.

The case was filed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and two Orthodox Jewish congregations who said capacity limits imposed by Governor Andrew Cuomo last month on places of worship in areas that have seen spikes in Covid-19 fell foul of the Constitution.

The court ruled 5-4 in favour of the organisations.

The justices echoed the arguments of the groups that the restrictions “single out houses of worship for especially harsh treatment.”

“It is time – past time – to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues and mosques,” wrote Justice Neil M. Gorsuch.

“Who knew public health would so perfectly align with secular convenience?”

The ruling was at odds with previous ones in cases from California and Nevada that were issued before the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September and reflects the new conservative tilt of the court.