SCOTUS Blocks California s COVID-19 Ban on Indoor Religious Services Reason.com

The Supreme Court on Friday night issued an injunction against California’s pandemic-inspired ban on indoor activities in houses of worship, suggesting that a Chula Vista church was likely to prevail in claiming that the rule violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom. Although “federal courts owe significant deference to politically accountable officials with the “‘background, competence, and expertise to assess public health,'” Chief Justice John Roberts said in a concurring statement, “the State’s present determination that the maximum number of adherents who can safely worship in the most cavernous cathedral is zero appears to reflect not expertise or discretion, but instead insufficient appreciation or consideration of the interests at stake.”

via reason.com