The 5 Towns Jewish Times
December 17, 2020
(JTA) For the second time in three weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court indicated that state governments may not restrict religious gatherings more strictly than secular ones due to the pandemic.
Responding to an appeal by a New Jersey priest and an Orthodox rabbi, the high court in a unanimous opinion instructed an appellate court to review their claim that the rules laid down by Gov. Phil Murphy on limiting religious gatherings to 150 people or 25% of a room’s capacity, whichever number is lower, constituted religious discrimination. The court ordered a similar challenge to the restrictions in Colorado.
Supreme Court: You Can t Treat Religious Services and Black Lives Matter Riots Differently (Greenfield)
Posted on Ever since ACB joined the Supreme Court, there s been a dramatic reversal of the treatment of religious worship in the coronavirus era. Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. New York was the first real pushback, but the SCOTUS majority is using it to carve out more territory for religious freedom in two cases, one involving the High Plains Harvest Church in Colorado, and the other involving a Catholic church and Orthodox synagogue in New Jersey. The Colorado case is interesting because one of the arguments involved the different treatment accorded to Black Lives Matter riots.
16 Dec 2020
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday handed a victory to clerics battling New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D) executive orders restricting houses of worship to 25 percent capacity, while secular businesses operate with no capacity limits.
The Thomas More Society, which represents Rev. Kevin Robinson, a parish priest, and Rabbi Yisrael Knopfler, who leads an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, announced in a statement:
The high court granted the
writ of certiorari before judgment on appeal in the Third Circuit and vacated the original judgment of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, denying an injunction against the restrictions to Reverend Kevin Robinson and Rabbi Yisrael Knopfler who preside over small houses of worship in the state.
WASHINGTON, D.C. â After the recent ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court granting an emergency petition for an injunction pending appeal on behalf of New York City synagogues and Roman Catholic churches in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo and Agudath Israel v. Cuomo, churches in Colorado, New Jersey and California have now received favorable court decisions regarding unconstitutional worship bans.
The High Court previously granted cert and vacated the lower court orders involving the emergency petition of Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry in their federal lawsuit against California Governor Gavin Newsomâs unconstitutional worship ban in light of Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo. However, after the district court failed to abide by the High Courtâs instructions, Liberty Counsel filed a renewed application to the Justices on behalf of the churches asking for an injunction.
Press Releases
Thomas More Society: United States Supreme Court Hands Down Religious Rights Victory for New Jersey Priest and Rabbi December 15, 2020, 5:48 pm | in
Thomas More Society Applauds Order Against Governor Murphy’s COVID Prompted Discrimination
(December 15, 2020 – Washington, DC) Today, the United States Supreme Court handed down what attorneys from the Thomas More Society are calling “a huge victory for religious freedom.” The case, pitting a New Jersey Catholic priest and Orthodox Jewish rabbi against Governor Philip Murphy’s COVID-19-related executive orders restricting houses of worship to 25% of capacity while secular businesses and schools are at 100% capacity.
The high court granted the writ of certiorari before judgment on appeal in the Third Circuit and vacated the original judgment of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey denying an injunction against the restrictions to Reverend Kevin Robinso