Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/20a87_4g15.pdf
Page Number: 8

Cite as:  592 U. S. ____ (2020) 

1 

GORSUCH, J., concurring 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

No. 20A87 
_________________ 

ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF BROOKLYN, 
NEW YORK v. ANDREW M. CUOMO, 
GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK 

ON APPLICATION FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF 

[November 25, 2020]

 JUSTICE GORSUCH, concurring. 
Government  is  not  free  to  disregard  the  First  Amend-
ment in times of crisis.  At a minimum, that Amendment 
prohibits government officials from treating religious exer-
cises worse than comparable secular activities, unless they
are pursuing a compelling interest and using the least re-
strictive means available.  See Church of Lukumi Babalu 
Aye, Inc. v. Hialeah, 508 U. S. 520, 546 (1993).  Yet recently,
during the COVID pandemic, certain States seem to have
ignored these long-settled principles.

Today’s case supplies just the latest example.  New York’s 
Governor  has  asserted  the  power  to  assign  different  color
codes to different parts of the State and govern each by ex-
ecutive decree.  In “red zones,” houses of worship are all but 
closed—limited to a maximum of 10 people.  In the Ortho-
dox Jewish community that limit might operate to exclude
all women, considering 10 men are necessary to establish a 
minyan, or a quorum.  In “orange zones,” it’s not much dif-
ferent.  Churches  and  synagogues  are  limited  to  a  maxi-
mum of 25 people.  These restrictions apply even to the larg-
est  cathedrals  and  synagogues,  which  ordinarily  hold
hundreds.  And the restrictions apply no matter the precau-
tions  taken,  including  social  distancing,  wearing  masks, 
leaving doors and windows open, forgoing singing, and dis-
infecting spaces between services.