Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/20a87_4g15.pdf
Page Number: 30.0

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ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF BROOKLYN v. CUOMO 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

worship so long as comparable secular institutions face re-
strictions that are at least equally as strict.  See South Bay, 
590 U. S., at ___ (ROBERTS, C. J., concurring) (slip op., at 2).
New York’s safety measures fall comfortably within those 
bounds.  Like the States in South Bay and Calvary Chapel, 
New York applies “[s]imilar or more severe restrictions . . . 
to comparable secular gatherings, including lectures, con-
certs, movie showings, spectator sports, and theatrical per-
formances,  where  large  groups  of  people  gather  in  close 
proximity  for  extended  periods  of  time.”    Ibid.    Likewise,  
New York “treats more leniently only dissimilar activities, 
such as operating grocery stores, banks, and laundromats,
in which people neither congregate in large groups nor re-
main in close proximity for extended periods.”  Ibid.  That 
should be enough to decide this case.

The Diocese attempts to get around South Bay and Cal-
vary  Chapel  by  disputing  New  York’s  conclusion  that  at-
tending religious services poses greater risks than, for in-
stance,  shopping  at  big  box  stores.  Application  in  No. 
20A87, p. 23 (Application).  But the District Court rejected 
that argument as unsupported by the factual record.  ___, 
F. Supp. 3d ___, ___–___, 2020 WL 6120167, *8–*9 (EDNY,
Oct. 16, 2020).  Undeterred, JUSTICE GORSUCH offers up his
own  examples  of  secular  activities  he  thinks  might  pose
similar risks as religious gatherings, but which are treated 
more  leniently  under  New  York’s  rules  (e.g.,  going  to  the 
liquor store or getting a bike repaired).  Ante, at 2 (concur-
ring opinion).  But JUSTICE GORSUCH does not even try to
square  his  examples  with  the  conditions  medical  experts
tell  us  facilitate  the  spread  of  COVID–19:  large  groups  of 
people gathering, speaking, and singing in close proximity 
indoors for extended periods of time.  See App. to Brief in
Opposition in No. 20A87, pp. 46–51 (declaration of Debra S. 
Blog,  Director  of  the  Div.  of  Epidemiology,  NY  Dept.  of
Health); Brief for the American Medical Association et al.