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Yesterday, First Liberty Institute (FLI) filed a friend-of-the-court brief in The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, a case in which the Brooklyn Diocese has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to grant an emergency injunction against restrictions on houses of worship ordered by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
“Governor Cuomo’s orders unlawfully target religious worship and violate the First Amendment,” said FLI Senior Counsel, Stephanie Taub. “Courts must be vigilant to protect fundamental individual liberties for all Americans, especially during a time of crisis. Courts must meaningfully review any order that singles out religious worship as a category for its own unique and burdensome restrictions.”
Governor Cuomo’s latest Executive Order imposes restrictions on houses of worship while favoring well over one hundred secular, for-profit activities over religiously-motivated activities.
Attendance at houses of worship is capped at 10 or 25 people in certain areas, while a wide range of for-profit activity in these areas are not subject to any capacity limitations at all.
In response, the Brooklyn Diocese argues that COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Governor Cuomo violate its constitutional right of religious freedom.
In our brief, we urge the Supreme Court to grant the emergency injunction “to correct the lower courts’ widespread misinterpretation” of its opinion in South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom issued earlier this year.
Taub further explains, “lower courts across the country are misconstruing the South Bay opinion to hold that normal principles of constitutional law do not apply during a prolonged pandemic. Courts have granted an unprecedented level of deference to government officials to impose unequal and discriminatory restrictions on religious exercise, functionally holding that decades of religious liberty precedents are indefinitely on hold. South Bay stands for no such thing.”
To read our brief, and stay up-to-date on the latest stories from the frontlines, please visit https://firstliberty.org/essential-fight
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