U.S. Supreme Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WordNews.org) Feb. 6, 2021 — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry (HIM) and partially granted the injunction pending appeal in the federal lawsuit against California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s total ban on indoor worship, said Liberty Counsel, the firm representing Harvest.
The ruling also included South Bay United Pentecostal Church.
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court enjoined California from enforcing the total ban on worship in the “Blueprint’s” Tier 1 pending disposition of the case at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and a petition to the Supreme Court. A majority held that instead of the total ban, California may impose a 25 percent building capacity limit in Tier 1. Based on the current record, a majority did not enjoin the ban on singing and chanting but did conclude that could be further addressed on remand.
Justices Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor dissented.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito would have granted the injunction against Tier 1 and against the singing and chanting ban. While the Court wrote several times that the churches may present additional evidence of the discriminatory treatment on the singing and chanting ban, Justice Gorsuch noted that California exempts music and TV production for the entertainment industry where singing is permitted. He noted that California’s scheme is confusing, and that on this record, he would hold that against the state and enjoin the ban on singing and chanting in places of worship.
Justice Gorsuch, joined by Thomas and Alito, wrote: “Today’s order should have been needless; the lower courts in these cases should have followed the extensive guidance this Court already gave.”
Regarding singing and chanting, he wrote: “But if Hollywood may host a studio audience or film a singing competition while not a single soul may enter California’s churches, synagogues, and mosques, something has gone seriously awry.”
Slate.com’s headline blared: “Kagan Warns the Supreme Court’s New COVID Decision May Kill People.”
“Justices of this Court are not scientists,” Kagan wrote. “Nor do we know much about public health policy. Yet today the Court displaces the judgments of experts about how to respond to a raging pandemic.”
Vox.com noted it was newest Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s first opinion and described it as “surprisingly revealing.” Vox described Justice Barrett’s opinion, which was joined by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, as being “slightly to the left of Gorsuch’s view.” Her opinion would support keeping the indoor singing ban intact while the case winds its way through litigation.
“It remains unclear whether the singing ban applies across the board (and thus constitutes a neutral and generally applicable law) or else favors certain sectors (and thus triggers more searching review),” Barrett wrote.
The injunction remains in place until further litigation is completed in the courts below and a petition for writ of cert is acted upon by the Supreme Court. Liberty Counsel will return to the lower courts to continue litigating the ban on singing and chanting.
On Thanksgiving Eve, the U.S. Supreme Court granted an emergency petition for an injunction pending appeal on behalf of New York City synagogues and Roman Catholic churches in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo and Agudath Israel v. Cuomo.
Then, on Dec. 3, 2020, in the Harvest Rock Church and HIM case, the U.S. Supreme Court granted cert and vacated the lower court orders involving the emergency petition. The Court stated in its order:
“The application for injunctive relief, presented to Justice Kagan and by her referred to the Court, is treated as a petition for a writ of certiorari before judgment, and the petition is granted. The Sept. 2 order of the United States District Court for the Central District of California is vacated, and the case is remanded to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit with instructions to remand to the District Court for further consideration in light of Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, 592 U.S. (2020).”
However, the lower courts refused to properly apply the Supreme Court’s constitutional road map. While the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the injunction pending appeal against Newsom’s “Blueprint” Tiers 2-4, it upheld Tier 1 and the Regional Stay-at-Home Order, which imposed a complete ban on in-person worship. Tiers 2-3 placed a 100- and 200- person cap on all houses of worship despite the size of the building. Tier 1 banned ALL WORSHIP. The three-judge Ninth Circuit panel for Harvest Rock Church said it was bound to follow the recent panel decision in South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom, which was released on Jan. 22.
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