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Court Rules in Favor of Religious Groups in Cuomo’s COVID-19 Restrictions on Houses of Worship

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By Ilana Siyance

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit has ruled to block Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Covid-19 executive order banning Jewish Orthodox Synagogues, and Catholic Churches from religious gatherings of more than 10-25 persons or  even limiting capacity to 33 or 25 percent.

As per The Yeshiva World, the Court has ruled that the restrictions on attendance for houses of worship “discriminates against religion on its face”, granting a victory for religious gatherings.  The court found that the ban “‘devalues religious reasons’ for congregating ‘by judging them to be of lesser import than nonreligious reasons.’” The Court also ruled that the restrictions were not neutral towards religion.  “The Court also found that Governor Cuomo’s Order was not generally applicable: the Governor has selected some businesses (such as news media, financial services, certain retail stores, and construction) for favorable treatment, calling them “essential,” while imposing greater restrictions on “non-essential” activities and religious worship. That lack of general applicability is also subject to strict scrutiny.”  The court therefore ruled that “both the fixed capacity and percentage capacity limits on houses of worship are subject to strict scrutiny.”

On November 25, the U.S. Supreme Court had similarly ruled in the case, brought forth by several Catholic Churches and Jewish Institutions, that Gov. Cuomo’s executive order likely discriminated against religion, in violation of the First Amendment.  The case was then moved to the appeals court, in which the Agudath Israel of America gave their appeal on Dec. 18.

Avi Schick, an attorney for the Aguda who also represented the Plaintiffs challenging the Executive Order, made a statement saying, “this decision has important ramifications that go way beyond COVID restriction. It is a clear statement from the Second Circuit that government can’t disfavor religion merely because they see no value in it. I expect that this decision will stop future governments from imposing rules that restrict religion, and also sets a standard that we can rely on in court in those instances when government does not heed that lesson.”

Indeed, the governor’s own data shows that religious gatherings have not been a source of exposure more than “essential” gatherings have.  As per The Yeshiva World, earlier in December, the Governor revealed a chart entitled “Statewide Contact Tracing Data,” which showed that “Religious Activities” were the source of exposure for only 0.69% of new COVID-19 infections in NYS from September through November. For activities deemed “essential”, the infection rates were comparable with: “Manufacturing” accounting for 0.84%, “Construction” for 0.66%, and “Professional Services” for 0.55%.

 

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