Thread by @mjs_DC

NEW: The Supreme Court refuses to block a New York regulation requiring health care workers to get the COVID vaccine with no religious exemptions. Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch dissent.

Here is Gorsuch's furious dissent, which compares vaccine mandates to laws forcing public school students to recite the pledge of allegiance. documentcloud.org/documents/2115…

(Housekeeping: There were two challenges to New York's vaccine mandate; today, the Supreme Court turned away both of them. Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch dissented from both orders. Gorsuch filed a written dissent in the second case, Dr. A v. Hochul.)

Gorsuch strongly suggests that Gov. Hochul eliminated religious exemptions to New York's vaccine mandate due to her hostility toward religion. documentcloud.org/documents/2115…

Once again, Gorsuch evinces a great deal of empathy toward those who refuse the COVID vaccine due to religious objections, saying they are not "anti-vaxxers." documentcloud.org/documents/2115…

Actually, Gorsuch outright declares that Gov. Hochul's alleged hostility toward religion justifies blocking New York's vaccine mandate as unconstitutional, at least "as applied to these applicants." documentcloud.org/documents/2115…

Here's Gorsuch comparing vaccines mandates to pre-WWII laws forcing school children to recite the pledge. As usual, he downplays or trivializes the threat of COVID throughout his dissent. documentcloud.org/documents/2115…

Gorsuch last week: Liberal religions are "watered down versions" of the real thing. npr.org/2021/12/08/106…

Gorsuch this week: Saying "God wants" people to get vaccinated is unconstitutional anti-religious animus.
documentcloud.org/documents/2115…

It's not animus when a justice says it!

This too

Gorsuch assumes that Hochul’s comments are self-evidently hostile toward religion. Is that true? Why can’t a governor express her belief that God wants everyone to get vaccinated? Doesn’t Gorsuch’s standard wind up severely restricting elected officials’ free speech?