Religious Gatherings Are Not Exempt from COVID-19

They Should Not Be Exempt From Government Restrictions Either

In my article, No, You Don’t Have the “Freedom” to Impose Your Religion on Me, I criticized Justice Alito’s comments of “unimaginable restrictions” on so-called “religious freedom.” His comments were especially disturbing in light of the numerous cases which were coming up to the Court. Sure enough, one of these cases was just decided, on precisely the issue he had just spoken of.

In Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, Alito, joined by four other Justices, granted an emergency injunction against the City of New York’s COVID-19 rules as applied to “religious” gatherings. To be fair, New York set itself up for this decision by making restrictions on religious gatherings different than those applied to other types of gatherings. While religious gatherings were limited to a specific number (10 in “red” zones and 25 in “orange” zones), other businesses and gatherings either had no limitations or could decide for themselves the limit of capacity. Because these restrictions did not meet the “the minimum requirement of neutrality” they were subject to the “strict scrutiny” test. But New York could not explain what purpose was served by stricter regulations of religious activity, much less the required showing that they be “narrowly tailored” to serve a “compelling” state interest.

The lesson from this case is that religious gatherings should be treated just like any other…