Click to Login or Sign Up

Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Matthew Hurst,
The Well Church
Len Miller,
Trinity Baptist Church, Lake Charles
McKinley Davis,
First Baptist Church, Coushatta

Sign up for 'Churches Helping Churches' damaged by Hurricane Laura

  • About
  • Archive
  • Contact
  • John 3:16
  • Louisiana
  • U.S. & Intl
  • Facts & Finds
  • Culture & Society
  • Editorial

Louisiana’s Barrett key to SCOTUS ruling against shutdown of NY churches

December 14, 2020

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor

WASHINGTON (LBM) – Amy Coney Barrett, a native of New Orleans, joined her fellow Trump-appointed U.S. Supreme Court associate justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, to rule against New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, who had set a 10- and 25-person cap on attendance at houses of worship in COVID-19 hotspots according to the severity of the public outbreak as indicated by a color-coded map developed by his office.

The case, brought by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and the Orthodox Jewish group Agudath Israel of America, asserted that the governor’s restrictions violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and treated houses of worship more harshly than comparable secular facilities. The two religious organizations testified “without contradiction,” according to the 5-4 decision, that they have complied with all public health guidance, have implemented additional precautionary measures, and have operated at 25% or 33% capacity for months without a single outbreak.”

Agudath Israel also produced evidence that Cuomo had drawn the map intentionally to include the Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn without cause.

The decision was announced the night before Thanksgiving.

This was the first case in which Barrett, who replaced the deceased Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was a key player. Notably, when Ginsburg was still a member of the Court last summer, the justices had refused to hear similar cases. Importantly, Chief Justice John Roberts, a G.W. Bush appointee, sided with the three liberal associate justices in dissenting.

Gorsuch wrote a concurring opinion that took aim at both Cuomo and Roberts (who has abandoned conservative justices in the past to side with liberals in some key decisions), according to Court observers.

“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,” he concluded in agreeing with the majority.

Comments

Search

  • Trending
  • Recent
  • Must Read

Trending

  • LACOSBE aligns with Conservative Baptist Network By Baptist Message staff ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – The Louisi...
  • John MacArthur rebukes SBC stance on Critical Race Theory By Will Hall, Message Executive Editor SUN VALLEY, Calif...
  • Beth Moore charges SBC conservatives with ‘sin’, recants 2009 statement on ‘homosexual sin’ By Will Hall, Executive Editor HOUSTON (LBM) -- LifeWay’s...
  • Why was Jesus’ birth so important? By Billy Graham All Christians look forward to celebratin...

Recent

Alabama’s Sammy Gilbreath leads Louisiana Baptists in a time of prayer at ECON 2021 (story developing)

Alabama tornado: ‘Like a bomb went off’

Lake Charles girl, 15, stabbed to death by teens at Walmart

Must Read

Alabama Pastor Ed Litton to be nominated for SBC president

State executive director Randy Adams to be nominated for SBC president

LACOSBE aligns with Conservative Baptist Network

Editorial

Lord, that’s not how we do things!

By Joe McKeever “‘…your ways are not my ways,’ saith the Lord.”  (Isaiah 55:8) Keep an eye on how the Lord works in your life. You might learn something useful for the next time He wants to use you. This little couplet seems to sum up 90 percent of what Scripture and life teach us concerning the operation … Continue Reading.

Copyright © 2021 by The Baptist Message · Built by Megaphone Designs