Extremist Gov. Andrew Cuomo was shocked on Wednesday when the U.S. Supreme Court shut down his coronavirus bans on church services.
In a 5-4 vote ruling, the high court granted requests made by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and two Orthodox Jewish congregations to allow them to gather for worship.
The ruling comes after months of draconian shutdowns of churches by New York state as well as New York City, which were meant to mitigate the transmission of the coronavirus.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Cuomo were particularly strict on New York’s Jewish citizens, many of whom refused to obey the bans on their weekly services. But many of these religious groups took their cause to the Supreme Court claiming they are being unfairly targeted.
The Orthodox congregations Agudath Israel of Kew Garden Hills and Agudath Israel of Madison, as well as nationwide Orthodox Jewish group Agudath Israel of America, joined in the laswuit.
Ultimately, the Justices agreed that New York authorities had violated the civil rights of New York’s religious people.
Per Bloomberg:
With Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the conservative wing in the majority, the court voted 5-4 in a pair of cases to bar Cuomo from enforcing his Oct. 6 “Cluster Initiative” against houses of worship that sued to challenge the restrictions. The initiative was aimed at stemming the outbreak in areas of Brooklyn and Queens that were experiencing a surge in cases.
“Even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten,” the majority said an unsigned opinion issued just before midnight Wednesday. “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.”
Justice Gorsuch remarked on the capriciousness of the arbitrary coronavirus lockdown rules, saying, “Gorsuch wrote, “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, or spend the afternoon exploring your distal points and meridians.”
Enough with these unconstitutional lockdowns.
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