WASHINGTON – Despite a new spike in coronavirus infections across the country, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily banned New York Wednesday night from imposing certain capacity limits at places of worship located in areas designated as heavily affected. by the virus.
The court’s decision will have no immediate impact as the two groups that sued the restrictions, the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Jewish synagogues, are no longer bound by them.
The groups had challenged attendance limits in designated red and orange zones, but are now in yellow zones, with fewer restrictions.
The justices were split 5-4, with new Justice Amy Coney Barrett in the majority in her first publicly discernible vote in Court. The three liberal justices and the president of the court, John Roberts, disagreed.
The decision represents a change in the Court. Earlier this year, with Barrett’s liberal predecessor, Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in court, justices were divided 5-4 in favor of maintaining pandemic-motivated seating restrictions affecting churches in California and Nevada.
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