Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21a90_6j37.pdf
Page Number: 2

Cite as:  595 U. S. ____ (2021) 

1 

GORSUCH, J., dissenting 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 21A90 
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JOHN DOES 1–3, ET AL. v. JANET T. MILLS, 
GOVERNOR OF MAINE, ET AL. 

ON APPLICATION FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF 

[October 29, 2021]

 JUSTICE  GORSUCH,  with  whom  JUSTICE  THOMAS  and 
JUSTICE ALITO join, dissenting from the denial of applica-
tion for injunctive relief. 

Maine  has  adopted  a  new  regulation  requiring  certain
healthcare  workers  to  receive  COVID–19  vaccines  if  they 
wish to keep their jobs.  Unlike comparable rules in most 
other States, Maine’s rule contains no exemption for those
whose  sincerely  held  religious  beliefs  preclude  them  from 
accepting the vaccination.  The applicants before us are a 
physician who operates a medical practice and eight other 
healthcare workers.  No one questions that these individu-
als have served patients on the front line of the COVID–19 
pandemic with bravery and grace for 18 months now.  App.
to Application for Injunctive Relief, Exh. 6, ¶8 (Complaint). 
Yet,  with  Maine’s  new  rule  coming  into  effect,  one  of  the
applicants has already lost her job for refusing to betray her
faith; another risks the imminent loss of his medical prac-
tice.  The applicants ask us to enjoin further enforcement of 
Maine’s new rule as to them, at least until we can decide 
whether to accept their petition for certiorari.  I would grant 
that relief. 

Start with  the first question confronting any  injunction
or stay request—whether the applicants are likely to suc-
ceed on the merits.  The First Amendment protects the ex-
ercise  of  sincerely  held  religious  beliefs.  Masterpiece 
Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Comm’n, 584 U. S.