On Tuesday, in two cases, the US Supreme Court struck down limits on the number of people allowed to gather in places of worship in New Jersey and Colorado because of the outbreak.
The judge ruled unanimously in Robinson V. Murphy, whose defendant, Phil Murphy, a Democrat, was the governor of New Jersey.
Without hearing oral arguments, the court accepted the suit and pronounced its decision, sending the case back to the Third Circuit court of Appeals and directing that “the case be returned to the District Court for consideration in accordance with its previous decision, Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn V. Cuomo.”
On November 25th the Supreme Court ruled in a landmark ruling that blocked Andrew Cuomo, The Democratic governor of New York, from restricting worship in the name of curbing the spread of the communist party virus.
In another case, High Plains Harvest Church v. Polis, the justices voted 6-3. Jared Polis, the defendant, is the Democratic governor of Colorado.
Like the New Jersey ruling, the court also upheld the church’s suit and issued a ruling, sending the case back to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Justices Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor dissented because, in their view, “the case has no real meaning” because “Colorado has lifted all these restrictions… There is no reason to think that Colorado will change its decision.”
The Supreme Court did not explain the reasons for its decisions.
Eric S. Dreiband, assistant attorney general of the U.S. Civil Rights Division, praised the Colorado ruling, saying: “This and other recent rulings make it abundantly clear that religious freedom is not a second-class right. The United States Constitution and its Bill of Rights have no pandemic exception.
“The State of Colorado’s decision that religion and places of worship are not treated in the same way as marijuana dispensaries, laundries and other non-religious practices is illegal shows a lack of respect or understanding for our Constitution.” Dreyband said.
Eric Reuel Olson, Colorado’s deputy attorney general, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the EPOCH Times.
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