Justice Kagan Criticizes SCOTUS Decision to Lift California's Indoor Worship Ban Amid Pandemic
On 2/6/21 at 12:29 PM EST
On Friday, a Supreme Court ruling lifted some restrictions that banned indoor worship services in California as the coronavirus pandemic continues. However, Associate Justice Elena Kagan penned a dissent that criticized the 6-3 decision.
The ban was lifted on indoor services for California's Tier 1 counties—those with widespread COVID-19 risks. Despite religious establishments being able to hold worship services during the pandemic, some restrictions are still in place, such as 25 percent capacity limits or bans on singing and chanting.
In a July 2020 Statewide Public Health Officer Order, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) had said that places of worship, as well as gyms, protests, salons and more, would need to halt indoor operations if counties appeared on the CDPH's County Monitoring List for three days in a row.