Supreme court bars Covid attendance limits at New York houses of worship - Amy Coney Barrett sides with conservatives in 5-4 ruling

[SilentPanda]

With coronavirus cases surging across the US, the supreme court barred New York from enforcing certain limits on attendance at churches and synagogues in areas designated as hard hit by the virus.

The justices split 5-4 late on Wednesday, with new justice Amy Coney Barrett, a devout Catholic, in the majority in her first publicly discernible vote as a justice. The court's three liberals and chief justice John Roberts dissented.

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The move was a shift for the court. Earlier this year, when Barrett's liberal predecessor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was on the court, the justices divided 5-4 to leave in place pandemic-related capacity restrictions affecting churches in California and Nevada.

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Roberts, in dissent, wrote that there was "simply no need" for the court's action.

"None of the houses of worship identified in the applications is now subject to any fixed numerical restrictions," he said, adding that New York's 10- and 25-person caps "do seem unduly restrictive".

"The governor might reinstate the restrictions. But he also might not. And it is a significant matter to override determinations made by public health officials concerning what is necessary for public safety in the midst of a deadly pandemic," he wrote.

Roberts and four other justices wrote separately to explain their views. Barrett did not.

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Avi Schick, an attorney for Agudath Israel of America, wrote in an email: "This is an historic victory. This landmark decision will ensure that religious practices and religious institutions will be protected from government edicts that do not treat religion with the respect demanded by the constitution."

Two lower courts sided with New York. The state argued that religious gatherings were being treated less restrictively than secular gatherings that carried the same infection risk, like concerts and theatrical performances. The governor's office did not immediately comment.

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Supreme court bars Covid attendance limits at New York houses of worship

Amy Coney Barrett sides with conservatives in 5-4 ruling while Chief Justice Roberts goes with liberals, seeing no need for action

www.theguardian.com