Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/20a87_4g15.pdf
Page Number: 18

4 

ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF BROOKLYN v. CUOMO 

KAVANAUGH, J., concurring 

on  attendance  at  religious  services.    And  New  York’s  re-
strictions discriminate against religion by treating houses
of  worship  significantly  worse  than  some  secular  busi-
nesses. 

For those reasons, I agree with THE CHIEF JUSTICE that 
New York’s “[n]umerical capacity limits of 10 and 25 people 
. . . seem unduly restrictive” and that “it may well be that
such  restrictions  violate  the  Free  Exercise  Clause.”    Post, 
at 1.  I part ways with THE CHIEF JUSTICE on a narrow pro-
cedural point regarding the timing of the injunctions.  THE 
CHIEF JUSTICE would not issue injunctions at this time.  As 
he  notes,  the  State  made  a  change  in  designations  a  few 
days  ago,  and  now  none  of  the  churches  and  synagogues 
who are applicants in these cases are located in red or or-
ange zones.  As I understand it, THE CHIEF JUSTICE would 
not issue an injunction unless and until a house of worship 
applies for an injunction and is still in a red or orange zone
on  the  day  that  the  injunction  is  finally  issued.  But  the 
State has not withdrawn or amended the relevant Execu-
tive Order.  And the State does not suggest that the appli-
cants lack standing to challenge the red-zone and orange-
zone  caps  imposed  by  the  Executive  Order,  or  that  these 
cases are moot or not ripe.  In other words, the State does 
not deny that the applicants face an imminent injury today. 
In particular, the State does not deny that some houses of 
worship, including the applicants here, are located in areas
that likely will be classified as red or orange zones in the
very near future.  I therefore see no jurisdictional or pru-
dential barriers to issuing the injunctions now.

There also is no good reason to delay issuance of the in-
junctions, as I see it.  If no houses of worship end up in red 
or orange zones, then the Court’s injunctions today will im-
pose no harm on the State and have no effect on the State’s
response to COVID–19.  And if houses of worship end up in 
red  or  orange  zones,  as  is  likely,  then  today’s  injunctions 
will ensure that religious organizations are not subjected to