“It is time — past time — to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues and mosques.” Justice Gorsuch
https://twitter.com/RorateCaeli/status/1331913994819526656
"At least according to the Governor, it may be unsafe to go to church, but always fine to pick up another bottle of wine, shop for a new bike, or spend afternoon exploring your distal points and meridians. Who knew public health would so perfectly align with secular convenience?"
"Now, as we round out 2020 and face the prospect of entering a second calendar year living in the pandemic’s shadow, that rationale has expired according to its own terms. Even if the Constitution has taken a holiday during this pandemic, it cannot become a sabbatical."
"I can only surmise that much of the answer lies in a particular judicial impulse to stay out of the way in times of crisis. But if that impulse may be understandable or even admirable in other circumstances, we may not shelter in place when the Constitution is under attack."
"None of us are rabbis wondering whether future services will be disrupted as the High Holy Days, or priests preparing for Christmas. Nor may we discount burden on faithful who have lived for months under New York’s unconstitutional regime unable to attend religious services."
"The parties before us have already shown entitlement to relief. Saying so now will establish clear legal rules ...Saying so now will dispel, as well, misconceptions about the role of the Constitution in times of crisis, which have already been permitted to persist for too long."
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