Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/20a87_4g15.pdf
Page Number: 33

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

5 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

President’s  statements  did  not  show  “that  the  challenged 
restrictions violate the ‘minimum requirement of neutral-
ity’  to  religion,”  ante,  at  2  (quoting  Lukumi,  508  U. S.,  at 
533), it is hard to see how Governor Cuomo’s do. 

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Free religious exercise is one of our most treasured and 
jealously guarded constitutional rights.  States may not dis-
criminate  against  religious  institutions,  even  when  faced 
with a crisis as deadly as this one.  But those principles are
not at stake today.  The Constitution does not forbid States 
from responding to public health crises through regulations
that treat  religious institutions equally or more favorably 
than  comparable  secular  institutions,  particularly  when
those regulations save lives.  Because New York’s COVID– 
19 restrictions do just that, I respectfully dissent.