On the evening of November 25, the U.S. Supreme Court, 5-4, blocked New York Governor Andrew Cuomo from reimposing strict numerical limits on New York City’s synagogues and Roman Catholic churches, saying that the rules he issued in the new wave of the new coronavirus epidemic unfairly singled out places of worship.
Justice Amy Cornyn Barrett sided with the conservative majority, while Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the liberal minority. The high court’s decision underscores the impact of Barrett’s confirmation as chief justice last month.
The Supreme Court was responding to an emergency injunction request from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and the American Orthodox Jewish group Agudath Israel, opposing restrictions on the number of religious services.
Many of the affected areas have large Orthodox Jewish populations, and two synagogues and a national Orthodox organization say the governor unconstitutionally singled out their religion. The Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn said in a separate document that churches are subject to stricter capacity restrictions than neighboring stores and offices.
The high court’s opinion said, “Even in the midst of an epidemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten. The restrictions at issue here strike at the heart of the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious liberty by effectively barring many people from attending religious services.”
The Supreme Court majority said that Kummer’s rule “singles out places of worship for particularly harsh treatment” and places them under stricter restrictions than, for example, acupuncture facilities and garages.
In early October, Kummer publicly threatened to “close synagogues” if they did not comply with his order.
Of the nine Supreme Court justices, Gossage, Kavanaugh, Barrett, Thomas, and Alito joined in the majority opinion, while Chief Justice Roberts joined three liberal justices, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor, in siding with Kummer, saying that the virus pandemic was serious and that the court deferred to local officials on matters involving scientific expertise.
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