In a recent ruling, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch said,
“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.”
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled 5-4 to bar New York Governor Mario Cuomo from enforcing his Oct. 6 “Cluster Initiative” against houses of worship that sued to challenge the restrictions. In 2018, Cuomo said, pro-life people were not welcome in New York. The ruling addresses two applicants, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and two Orthodox Jewish synagogues; both complained Cuomo’s restrictions violated constitutional protections of the free exercise of religion.
The order was also the first in which Justice Amy Coney Barrett played a decisive role. Barrett, who was President Trump’s third Supreme Court nominee, joined the court on Oct. 27, after winning Senate confirmation following the Sept. 18 death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Gorsuch pointed out Cuomo’s brazen anti-religious restrictions. “So, at least according to the Governor, it may be unsafe to go to church, but it is always fine to pick up another bottle of wine, shop for a new bike… “Who knew public health would so perfectly align with secular convenience?”