On Tuesday, the Supreme Court issued an order in the case of Robinson v. Murphy vacating an order from Oct. 2 by a district court in New Jersey against a Catholic priest and a Jewish rabbi who sued the state over worship gathering restrictions.

Also on Tuesday, the high court issued a separate order in the case of High Plains Harvest Church v. Polis, in which a Colorado church challenged the restrictions in that state.

The Supreme Court vacated an Aug. 10 order by a Colorado district court against High Plains Harvest Church, although with this order Justice Elena Kagan dissented.

“I respectfully dissent because this case is moot. High Plains Harvest Church has sought to enjoin Colorado’s capacity limits on worship services. But Colorado has lifted all those limits,” wrote Kagan, being joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor.

As part of its response to COVID-19, Colorado had limited in-person worship services to 50 attendees, even though gatherings like protests were not held to the same attendance cap.

Both orders cited as justification for their granting of relief the recent Supreme Court case of Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, which centered on New York state restrictions on worship gatherings.

In Brooklyn v. Cuomo, the high court ruled 5-4 to temporarily block gathering limits by the New York state government, saying that they unfairly hindered religious practice.

“Members of this Court are not public health experts, and we should respect the judgment of those with special expertise and responsibility in this area. But even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten,” stated the court in a Per Curiam ruling.

“The restrictions at issue here, by effectively barring many from attending religious services, strike at the very heart of the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious liberty.”

“This order shows that the Supreme Court is truly interested in ensuring churches get equal treatment with secular activities,” said Thomas More Society special counsel Christopher Ferrara.

“We are getting a very clear message from the United States Supreme Court that government cannot set up any rules that apply to places of worship, or worship activities, but not to other, comparable secular activities,” 

For further details, please click here.