Teachers push back, churches in court, National Guard: News from around our 50 states From USA TODAY Network and wire reports, USA TODAY
Alabama
Montgomery: The state is getting roughly half as much COVID-19 vaccine as it was expecting based on federal plans announced last year, officials said Friday, meaning it would take more than two years to vaccinate the adult population without improvement. The state has 800 approved vaccination sites and is trying to deliver shots as quickly as it can, but supply issues have been the biggest hindrance to state vaccination efforts, said Dr. Scott Harris, head of the Alabama Department of Public Health. “Every state had the idea that they were going to get much more vaccine than they ultimately got,” he said. “I assume this is related to optimistic projections and the inability of manufacturers to keep up that. … There just wasn’t enough vaccine to go around.” Alabama health officials were expecting to get more th
The church’s lawyers said in a court filing last Thursday they wanted the high court to “clarify for all that the First Amendment does not allow government officials to use COVID-19 as an excuse to treat churches and their worshippers worse than secular establishments and their patrons.”
In a 5-4 decision in June, the Supreme Court refused Calvary Chapel’s request for an emergency injunction blocking enforcement of Nevada’s attendance limit at houses of worship.
But the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled in favor of the church last month, finding it was unconstitutional for Nevada to treat casinos and other businesses more favorably than churches.
Supreme Court rejects Nevada church protesting coronavirus worship restrictions Print this article
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a Nevada church protesting Gov. Steve Sisolak s coronavirus worship restrictions.
This is the second time the court has rejected the case,
Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley v. Sisolak, since religious freedom advocates brought it forward this summer. The first time, the court decided not to give the church a temporary injunction against Sisolak s orders, which limited the number of people present at a church service to 50 or fewer.
After the rejection, a 5-4 decision with Chief Justice John Roberts as the deciding vote, the church s case became a rallying point for religious freedom advocates. Justice Samuel Alito, in his dissent, wrote that the court had failed the church by allowing Sisolak to restrict attendance to 50 people while at the same time opening casinos at 50% capacity.
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The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from a Nevada church fighting against local coronavirus restrictions on Monday, after lawyers for the state argued against claims that the safety measures were examples of religious discrimination.
Nevada attorneys noted in their argument to the high court that capacity limits enacted by the state’s Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak pertained not just to religious institutions, but a variety of businesses as well, ranging from theaters and casinos to restaurants and bars, according to NBC.
The court declined to hear the appeal in a one-line ruling on Monday, the news outlet reported, a noteworthy move after previously blocking similar coronavirus restrictions in New York last year, saying in a decision the 10-person cap on attendance singled out “houses of worship for especially harsh treatment.”
The Latest: White House to resume public COVID-19 briefings
January 25, 2021
WASHINGTON White House press secretary Jen Psaki says the Biden administration will provide public briefings on the coronavirus pandemic starting Wednesday.
The briefings will feature public health officials. Psaki says they will occur three times a week and provide details on the government’s response to addressing the pandemic.
That’s a stark contrast to the Trump administration, which kept Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious-diseases expert, and other top health officials on a short leash, with the West Wing press shop tightly controlling Fauci’s media appearances and offering few public briefings as the virus raged in recent months.