Thread by @CarolineMCorbin

Supreme Court Backs Religious Challenge to NY Virus Shutdown Order buff.ly/3m8fRvt

Gorsuch: "there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores & bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues and mosques,”

#SCOTUS

Well, a world guided by science might.

Religious Liberty in a Pandemic buff.ly/3il4gro

"The constitutionality of the bans turns on the science of how the pathogen spreads & the best available scientific evidence supports the mass gathering bans."

#SCOTUS #COVID

The first thing to note is that NY's orders impose limits on ALL mass gatherings, not just those in houses of worship.

In fact, the Dist Ct found churches were treated more leniently than their secular counterparts

#SCOTUS #Covid #SupremeCourt

Second, shopping at a liquor store & attending a religious service are NOT comparable in terms of risk of spreading the virus. NOT AT ALL.

(Yes, I wrote a whole essay examining this exact question: buff.ly/3il4gro. NY actually cites it in their brief to the 2d Cir.)

At this point, we all know that:

coronavirus spreads mostly by person-to-person contact via droplets & aerosols

the risks of transmission are greatest in crowded indoor spaces where people are interacting w/ each other for extended time

Singing & speaking are also risk factors

These factors are present in religious gatherings, but not in shopping trips.

To start, the typical time spent in shopping stores is much shorter.

When people shop, the enter & leave as fast as they can.

Worship services are extended affairs.

#SCOTUS #COVID #COVID19

In addition, people in stores generally try to minimize their interactions as much as possible, a feat made easier by the ability to constantly move around.

In contrast, the point of in-person religious services is to commune with one’s fellow worshippers.

Even when social distancing, congregants are still often in a crowded room, perhaps with questionable ventilation, filled with people all around them.

Moreover, the fellow worshippers surrounding them are speaking and even singing for an extended period of time.

You don't have to take my word for it that shopping at a store and attending a worship service are NOT AT ALL the same in terms of risk.

The school of public health at John Hopkins rated the contact intensity of shopping as low that of places of worship as high.

#SCOTUS #COVID

Churches have been the source of more super-spreader events than I can even keep track of!!

People shopping at a liquor store or bike store? NOT SO MUCH.

#SCOTUS #COVID #COVID19

Here are some examples of churches as the source of Covid outbreaks -- outbreaks that sicken and KILL people -- just from October 2020:

More than 200 cases, the Crossroads Community Church Massachusetts: buff.ly/2JeD1BT

#SCOTUS #COVID #COVID19

More examples:

At least 62 infected at Brooks Pentecostal Church, Maine: buff.ly/2HI9m3s

74, Liberty Church, Michigan: buff.ly/2HHt5Ag

Over 213 positive cases, 12 deaths, United House of Prayer, NC buff.ly/2JeDPGV

And there are so many more...

#COVID

Also: The #SCOTUS per curium decision utterly fails to explain that religious services were limited as part of a ban on ALL mass gatherings

Moreover, churches were treated MORE FAVORABLY than theatres, concert halls, restaurants, bars, schools etc.

#SupremeCourt #Covid #covid19