Supreme Court Says “No” To Cuomo’ Restrictions on Religion

 

The United States Supreme Court has temporarily rules against Governor’s Cuomo’s restriction against attendance limits within religious houses of worship.

The 5-4 decision upholds the first amendment which gives Americans the right to worship as they choose.  “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,” the majority decision wrote.

Newly appointed Justice Amy Coney Barrett played a vital role in her first public vote as a justice supporting the majority opinion. Earlier this year, the court had voted to leave in place pandemic-related capacity restrictions affecting churches in California and Nevada.  Justice Barrett’s predecessor, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was on that court, the justices divided 5-4

The two groups that sued against the restrictions was the Catholic church and Orthodox Jewish synagogues.

“Even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten,” the Supreme Court concluded.