The Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn has filed an emergency application for a stay in the United States Supreme Court challenging Governor Andrew Cuomo's Executive Order 202.68. The measure "limits in-person
attendance at “houses of worship” to 10 or 25 people in designated geographic zones,
without regard to the size of the building and despite allowing numerous secular
businesses to operate without any capacity restrictions". Represented by Randy Mastro of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher the church argues that the Catholic Governor's order is not sufficiently narrowly drawn and therefore improperly burdens religion.
The application is designed to lure the vote of newly appointed Associate Justice Amy Barrett, a former Notre Dame law professor celebrated by the President who presented her triumphantly to the nation at an event which proved to be covid19 super-spreader event. The hope is that she will replace the Ginsburg vote with one attuned to that of Justice Brett Kavanaugh who dissented from a 25% attendance cap in South Bay Pentecostal Church v. Newsom, 140 S. Ct. 1613, 1613-14 (2020), The measure - according to Kavanaugh - who was joined by Associate Justices Thomas and Gorsuch "indisputably discriminates against religion" in violation of the First Amendment. That singing, chanting in unison and other characteristic congregational activities present heightened risks as the covid19 virus runs uncontrolled across the nation appears to give no pause to the Church.
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