Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/19a1070_08l1.pdf
Page Number: 12

Cite as:  591 U. S. ____ (2020) 

1 

GORSUCH, J., dissenting 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

No. 19A1070 
_________________ 

CALVARY CHAPEL DAYTON VALLEY v. STEVE 
SISOLAK, GOVERNOR OF NEVADA, ET AL. 

ON APPLICATION FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF 

[July 24, 2020] 

  JUSTICE GORSUCH, dissenting from denial of application 
for injunctive relief. 
  This is a simple case.  Under the Governor’s edict, a 10-
screen “multiplex” may host 500 moviegoers at any time.  A 
casino, too, may cater to hundreds at once, with perhaps six 
people huddled at each craps table here and a similar num-
ber  gathered  around  every  roulette  wheel  there.    Large 
numbers  and  close  quarters  are  fine  in  such  places.    But 
churches,  synagogues,  and  mosques  are  banned  from  ad-
mitting  more  than  50  worshippers—no  matter  how  large 
the building, how distant the individuals, how many wear 
face masks, no matter the precautions at all.  In Nevada, it 
seems,  it  is  better  to  be  in  entertainment  than  religion.  
Maybe that is nothing new.  But the First Amendment pro-
hibits  such  obvious  discrimination  against  the  exercise  of 
religion.  The world we inhabit today, with a pandemic upon 
us,  poses  unusual  challenges.    But  there  is  no  world  in 
which  the  Constitution  permits  Nevada  to  favor  Caesars 
Palace over Calvary Chapel.