Two California churches on Tuesday returned to the Supreme Court after lower courts upheld Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pandemic worship restrictions.
The churches, South Bay United Pentecostal and Harvest Rock, argued that Newsom’s orders, which banned all indoor services, violated the Constitution’s free exercise clause. Both churches have been at the Supreme Court already over this issue: South Bay was denied an emergency injunction last spring, and Harvest Rock received one in December after Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s addition to the court swung its thinking in a more favorable direction.
In both cases, the Supreme Court declined to weigh in on the merits of the cases until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit weighed in. And in two decisions, one reached on Friday and the other on Monday, the court opted against tossing out Newsom’s restrictions. California on Monday lifted its statewide stay-at-home order, making future disputes over restrictions on church services a local government issue.
The Supreme Court on Monday also signaled a new direction in church coronavirus litigation, turning away Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley v. Sisolak, a case in which a Nevada church protested Gov. Steve Sisolak’s now-relaxed worship restrictions. The court had previously turned away the church when it sought an injunction last year.
Despite the slew of setbacks, Mat Staver, a religious freedom advocate whose firm, Liberty Counsel, is representing Harvest Rock, said the court’s recent decisions siding with churches in New York, Colorado, and New Jersey give him hope.
“The high court has already issued a clear road map that leads to the ultimate conclusion that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ban of worship is unconstitutional,” he said.
Similarly, in a complaint to the Supreme Court, attorneys for South Bay referenced Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, a November case in which the court found that New York churches and synagogues were not bound by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s gathering restrictions. The case was the first in a series of decisions issued late last year that favored churches over government restrictions.
