Throughout the COVID 19 pandemic states have continuously attempted to enact restrictions regarding religion, and religious gatherings. Nearly every time these restrictions have been shot down by the Supreme Court. California has been a major proponent of these restrictions.
Fox News reported Saturday: “The U.S. Supreme court, a divided decision late Friday ruled in favor of lifting restrictions on in-home religious gatherings, overturning a lower court ruling that upheld Gov. Gavin Newsom’s limits on people from different homes.”
“The 5-4 unsigned ruling follows other similar decisions recently regarding churches and the coronavirus pandemic. The decision noted it was the fifth time the court has rejected the Ninth Circuit’s analysis of California coronavirus restrictions.”
The majority opinion from the court stated that a state (California) cannot “assume the worst when people go to worship but assume the best when people go to work,” in a quote that can be viewed from a previous ruling regarding the subject.
Benjamin Franklin once said “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
Religion is an essential liberty, outlined in the first amendment of the United States Constitution. It was the very first thing that the Bill of Rights touched on.