Law360 is providing free access to its coronavirus coverage to make sure all members of the legal community have accurate information in this time of uncertainty and change. Use the form below to sign up for any of our weekly newsletters. Signing up for any of our section newsletters will opt you in to the weekly Coronavirus briefing.
Sign up for our Appellate newsletter
You must correct or enter the following before you can sign up:
Thank You!
Law360 (May 30, 2020, 9:33 AM EDT ) Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. joined his liberal colleagues on the U.S. Supreme Court early Saturday morning to deny a request from a California church to lift restrictions on religious gatherings in the state during the coronavirus pandemic.
The court voted 5-4 to reject the South Bay United Pentecostal Church's constitutional challenge to California's occupancy limits on religious services, with the remaining conservative justices saying they would have lifted the restrictions.
The church sought to block California's order limiting gatherings in places of worship to 25% of building capacity or a maximum of 100 people. The church calls the order discriminatory, as other secular businesses such as grocery stores are allowed to exceed such limits.
Justice Roberts said in a concurrence that the restrictions "appear consistent with the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment."
Roberts noted that the current national death toll of COVID-19 has eclipsed 100,000 people and called the issue of public health measures "a dynamic and fact-intensive matter subject to reasonable disagreement."
In such an environment, he said, health officials have broad discretion to ensure public safety. "Where those broad limits are not exceeded, they should not be subject to second-guessing by an 'unelected federal judiciary,' which lacks the background, competence, and expertise to assess public health and is not accountable to the people," he said.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who wrote a dissent joined by Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Neil Gorsuch, saw the matter differently.
"What California needs is a compelling justification for distinguishing between (i) religious worship services and (ii) the litany of other secular businesses that are not subject to an occupancy cap," he said. "The church and its congregants simply want to be treated equally to comparable secular businesses."
Charles LiMandri, an attorney for the church, called the ruling "disappointing" and said they would continue litigating in the Ninth Circuit. "This case is far from over," he said.
Counsel for the state of California could not be immediately reached for comment Saturday.
The church is represented by Charles S. LiMandri of LiMandri & Jonna LLP.
California is represented by California Deputy Solicitor General Samuel T. Harbourt.
The County of San Diego is represented by Office of County Counsel attorney Jeffrey P. Michalowski.
The case is South Bay United Pentecostal Church et al. v. Newsom, case number 19A1044, in the U.S. Supreme Court.
--Editing by Daniel King.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
