The United States Supreme Court granted injunctive relief against Governor Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) COVID-19 regulation limiting at-home religious gatherings to three households.
The SCOTUS’ recent ruling in Tandon v. Newsom represents the fifth time in a matter of months that the Court has ruled against Governor Newsom’s COVID-19 regulations aimed at restricting religious worship (see also See Harvest Rock Church v. Newsom, South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom, Gish v. Newsom, and Gateway City Church v. Newsom).
The Court said the state of California cannot arbitrarily treat at-home religious gatherings differently than other types of gatherings.
California treats some comparable secular activities more favorably than at-home religious exercise, permitting hair salons, retail stores, personal care services, movie theaters, private suites at sporting events and concerts, and indoor restaurants to bring together more than three households at a time.
Tandon v. Newsome opinion 4/9/21
The Court’s recent rulings against Gov. Newsom referred to another case it decided against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in November 2020.
Gov. Cuomo had limited attendance at religious services to 10 or 25 people, depending on what “zone” they were in. Meanwhile, “essential” businesses could admit as many people as they wished. Under the Cuomo order, essential services included large retail stores where hundreds of people could be admitted at once, acupuncture facilities, campgrounds, garages, as well as many whose services were not limited to those that can be regarded as essential, such as all plants manufacturing chemicals and microelectronics and all transportation facilities. The Supreme Court enjoined (stopped) New York from enforcing Cuomo’s executive order in that case.
Where the government permits other activities to proceed with precautions, it must show that the religious
exercise at issue is more dangerous than those activities even when the same precautions are applied. Otherwise,
precautions that suffice for other activities suffice for religious exercise too.Tandon v. Newsome opinion 4/9/21 (quoting Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, decided on 12/3/20)
California changed the policy limiting at-home religious gatherings to three households shortly after the case challenging Gov. Newsom’s action was filed with the Supreme Court. But, the Supreme Court heard the case anyway stating, “officials with a track record of “moving the goalposts” retain authority to reinstate those heightened restrictions at any time”.
Justices Kagan, Breyer, and Sotomayor disagreed with the majority’s opinion in the Newsom case.
