The U.S. Supreme Court sided with a rural Colorado church on Tuesday that challenged COVID-19 restrictions from Gov. Jared Polis limiting gatherings for religious services — the third time in less than three weeks the high court has made such a move.
In an unsigned order, the Supreme Court sent the case of High Plains Harvest Church vs. Polis back to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, which had earlier sided with the governor.
The order included instructions for the appellate court to reconsider its decision in light of the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in November against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in which it overturned mandatory occupancy limits on religious services in New York state aimed at stemming the spread of the coronavirus.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who joined the high court in November, was a decisive vote in that case.
Tuesday’s order resembled another decision from the high court two weeks ago in which justices granted a petition from a church in Pasadena, Calif., that sought to set aside a lower court ruling that affirmed capacity limits set by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
In that case, the high court similarly instructed the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to reconsider its opinion in the wake of the New York decision.
Liberal justices Elana Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer dissented in Tuesday’s order, arguing that the case is now moot because Polis already lifted the restriction caps after the high court’s New York ruling.
They made the same arguments in the New York decision — Cuomo had already removed the restrictions. But in both cases, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority ordered that the cases continue.
Polis’ order in June allowed churches to open at either 50% capacity or 50 people in the worship space, whichever is fewer. Last week, the state issued an amended order classifying houses of worship as “critical businesses” that are exempt from capacity limits.
Churches have contended they are being unfairly singled out by operating restrictions that treat religious and retail businesses differently. Health experts have said crowded, indoor church services provide an especially potent avenue for transmission of the disease, which is spread through the emission of infected droplets.
Several outbreaks nationwide have been traced to church services. This month, for example, San Diego County health officials said outbreaks at three Awaken Church locations resulted in at least 64 cases.
Citing the New York ruling, the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Washington, D.C., on Monday sued the city over COVID-19 restrictions that will limit attendees at Christmas services.
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Colorado is now a communist state and Christianity is being suppressed / destroyed, by the politburo in Colorado.
Did you read the article at all? Thanks to the Supreme Court decision Christianity is no longer being suppressed in Colorado in connection with Covid edicts.
Since the first court decision came down Polis has made a point of leaving churches out of his restrictions on gatherings. Polis is a wannabe dictator but he’s smarter than Cuomo and Whitmer.
Being smarter just makes him more dangerous. It’s not that he wouldn’t like to shut down churches, it’s simply that he has realized he can’t. Not now. He’ll be back at it as soon as Biden packs the courts.
Also, we aren’t all communists in Colorado anymore than you are a communist in Michigan.
BUT their ‘calls’, in this regard, doesn’t OVERSHADOW THEIR total and utter frubb up, they made in Refusing to hear any case against the election fraud..