Hamodia Agudath Israel and the Brooklyn Catholic Diocese have filed an application to the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency injunction against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “Cluster Action Initiative,” claiming that its restrictions on houses of worship are an unconstitutional violation of religious liberties.
The Cluster Action Initiative “expressly singles out ‘houses of worship’ by that name for adverse treatment relative to secular businesses, and does so in a way that is not narrowly tailored to any compelling government interest,” says the Diocese’s suit, filed last week.
“The Governor’s targeting of a religious minority for blame during a pandemic, falsely tarring them as perpetrators rather than victims of the virus, is incompatible with the Free Exercise Clause,” says the Agudah suit, filed Monday.
The Initiative, enacted in early October, divided parts of the state into various colored “zones,” based on perceived risk due to COVID-test-positivity rates. In the most-restrictive red zones, restrictions included limiting services at houses of worship to 10 people or 25 percent of maximum occupancy, whichever is smaller. In the intermediate “orange” zone, maximum attendance at houses of worship is limited to the smaller of 25 people or 33% of occupancy. In the yellow zone, houses of worship are limited to 50% of occupancy.
Agudah and the Diocese (as well as other groups) filed suits against the Initiative. Agudah’s and the Diocese’s requests for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction were first heard on Hoshana Rabbah, and denied, by separate federal judges of the Eastern District of New York. Their requests for a preliminary injunction pending appeal before the Second Circuit were heard together, and denied last Monday by a 2-1 decision
These applications by Agudah and the Diocese represent the groups’ final opportunity for an injunction before the case is heard on the merits, in mid-December, by the Second Circuit.
A Cuomo spokesman did not immediately respond to Hamodia’s request for comment on the filing Monday.
This is a breaking-news alert. Check back later for an expanded article on the court filings.
@scotusreporter BREAKING: Supreme Court conservatives grant Catholic, Jewish organization request to block Cuomo's Covid-related restrictions on houses of worship. CJ Roberts and liberal justices object. Shows impact of replacing Ginsburg with Barrett
יעצט געליינט אין עס קוקט אויס אז יא אין Dec וועט זיין די רולינג אויב איך האב גיט פארשטאנען
I vote to grant the applications of the Roman Catholic Di- ocese of Brooklyn and Agudath Israel of America for tempo- rary injunctions against New York’s 10-person and 25- person caps on attendance at religious services. On this record, temporary injunctions are warranted because New York’s severe caps on attendance at religious services likely violate the First Amendment. Importantly, the Court’s or- ders today are not final decisions on the merits. Instead, the Court simply grants temporary injunctive relief until the Court of Appeals in December, and then this Court as appropriate, can more fully consider the merits.