RENO, Nev. The U.S. Supreme Court refused a rural Nevada church’s request Monday to step into a legal battle over the government’s authority to limit the size of religious gatherings amid the COVID-19 pandemic even after the church won an appeals court ruling last month that found Nevada’s restrictions unconstitutional.
Attorneys general from 19 other states had recently joined in support of Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley east of Reno. They were urging the Supreme Court to rule on the merits of the Nevada case to help bring uniformity to various standards courts across the country have used to balance the interests of public safety and freedom of religion.
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Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley in Dayton, Nevada. | Alliance Defending Freedom
The United States Supreme Court has ordered the governor of Nevada to respond to a lawsuit from a church alleging that the state’s restrictions on in-person worship services violate their constitutional rights.
According to the court’s order, one of many handed down on Monday, “The respondents are directed to file a response to the petition on or before noon, Tuesday, January 19, 2021. Petitioner may file a reply brief on or before noon, Thursday January 21, 2021.”
The Lyon County-based Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley has been engaged in a lengthy legal battle with Gov. Steve Sisolak, D-Nev., Attorney General Aaron Ford, and Lyon County Sheriff Frank Hunewill over worship restrictions imposed in the state as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Federal Judges Again Say ‘No’ to Cuomo’s Limits on Church Attendance
Gov. Andrew Cuomo lost another round in federal court when a three-judge panel from the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a lower court’s prior decision favoring the New York Democrat’s severe limits on worship gatherings.
In a highly unusual Jan. 5 ruling, the judges rejected an injunction against the limits sought by Catholic priest Steven Soos, but, at the same time, remanded the case to the lower federal district court.
The lower court was instructed to reconsider its prior decision upholding Cuomo’s directive in light of the Supreme Court’s Nov. 25, 2020, ruling in Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of New York.