Supreme Court continues to block state COVID-19 restrictions on religious gatherings

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court continued its  solicitude toward religious freedom in the face of a pandemic Tuesday by giving religious leaders in New Jersey and Colorado another chance to block strict limits on houses of worship.

The action followed similar ones affecting religious institutions in New York and California. In all four cases, the high court indicated that states may not impose stricter standards on churches, synagogues and mosques than they do on most commercial establishments.

New Jersey limits  houses of worship to the lesser of 25% capacity or 150 people. The policy was challenged by a priest and a rabbi who argued their small congregations are penalized more than necessary.

"Religious gatherings ... are still being treated unequally relative to numerous comparable secular activities, including attending school, working at a meatpacking plant, getting a facial, shopping at Costco, playing contact sports, casino gambling, and mass celebrations after a presidential election," they said in court papers.

In response, state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal wrote that the state was limiting the density of indoor services, rather than the number, and requiring that masks be worn.

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"There is nothing discriminatory about that," Grewal said. "This rule applies to all venues where members of the public remain for extended periods, and the few activities subject to higher limits present substantially fewer health risks."

Colorado restrictions until recently varied depending on the level of COVID-19 risk. The church that challenged the state in court was limited to 25% capacity, not to exceed 50 people.

But Colorado lifted all limits on religious gatherings after the Supreme Court issued its ruling in the New York case. That led the court's three liberal associate justices to dissent from Tuesday's ruling.

The challengers' arguments in both states mirrored those made by Christian and Jewish congregations in New York and California. Last month, the justices ruled 5-4 against New York's limits of 10 to 25 worshipers in hardest-hit regions. This month, they sent California's restrictions back to a lower court with instructions to consider the New York precedent.

More:Supreme Court grants California church's challenge to coronavirus restrictions

"Even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten," the court's conservative majority opinion said in the New York case. "The restrictions at issue here, by effectively barring many from attending religious services, strike at the very heart of the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious liberty."

More:Supreme Court blocks strict COVID-19 restrictions on New York houses of worship

That was a reversal from actions taken by the justices in response to state restrictions on organized religion during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the spring, the court refused to lift restrictions on churches in California and Nevada when Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court's four liberals. But Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett's replacement of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in October has bolstered the court's conservative majority.

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