Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Supreme Court Denies Church's Request To Overturn California's Restrictions On Religious Gatherings
Politico: Roberts Joins Court's Liberals To Deny California Church's Lockdown Challenge
A sharply divided Supreme Court late Friday turned aside a church's urgent plea that California's coronavirus lockdown orders are putting an unconstitutional burden on religious freedom. Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the court's liberals in rejecting a San Diego church's request for relief from Gov. Gavin Newsom's most recent directive limiting churches to 25% of their normal maximum capacity, with an absolute maximum of 100 people at any service. (Gerstein, 5/29)
NPR: Supreme Court Rejects Church's Challenge To California's Coronavirus Rules
"Although California's guidelines place restrictions on places of worship, those restrictions appear consistent with the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment," Roberts said, in an opinion that denied a request by the South Bay United Pentecostal Church for relief from the rules. The Chula Vista-based house of worship sued Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, over an order limiting congregations to 25% capacity or 100 attendees, whichever is lower. The plaintiffs told the court its services typically attract 200 to 300 congregants. (Dwyer, 5/30)
The Wall Street Journal: Supreme Court Rejects Church Challenge To California’s Limits On In-Person Services During The Pandemic
While churches faced fewer restrictions than other gatherings, the order “exempts or treats more leniently only dissimilar activities, such as operating grocery stores, banks, and laundromats, in which people neither congregate in large groups nor remain in close proximity for extended periods,” the chief justice wrote. “The precise question of when restrictions on particular social activities should be lifted during the pandemic is a dynamic and fact-intensive matter subject to reasonable disagreement,” he wrote, but the Constitution principally assigns such judgments “to the politically accountable officials of the States.” (Bravin, 5/30)
The Washington Post: Trump Is Pushing Churches To Open. Black Pastors In Hard-Hit St. Louis Are Preaching Caution.
On any given Sunday, the soaring sanctuary of St. Louis’s Church of God in Christ echoes with thundering sermons, joyful music and ecstatic professions of faith. Just not this week. Or next. Silent since March, the church will stay that way until Bishop Elijah H. Hankerson III deems it safe — even though local authorities have authorized places of worship to reopen and President Trump has prodded them to do it fast. (Witte, 5/31)
The New York Times: Amid Riots And A Pandemic, Church Attendance Resumes In ‘A Very Broken World’
With their most vulnerable members at home, their community in the streets, and their nation wracked by a pandemic, riots and political polarization, Pastor Samuel Rodriguez’s congregation went to church here on Sunday, at times violating state health rules in the interest of unity. “Outside the confines of these walls we hear the sound of a very broken world,” preached Mr. Rodriguez, an evangelical minister. “Outside these corridors of worship we hear the sound of desperation. Throughout America today we hear the sounds of a nation torn apart by the devil of racism.” (Hubler and Rojas, 5/31)
The Washington Post: On This Pentecost, Christians Who Came To Church Were Wary And Grateful
Andre Kuhner and his family used to go to Mass every day. So when the Army logistics expert figured out Sunday morning that the Catholic Diocese of Arlington was reopening and that their 2½ -month Communion drought was over, he was like a shot out of a cannon. “I ran around the house and said: ‘Get dressed, we’re going to Mass!’ ” he said Sunday, with his wife, Renata, and two young sons all beaming outside the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington, where they’d just gone back to in-person services. (Boorstein, 5/31)
Los Angeles Times: Churches Plan Big Pentecost Services Despite Orders
The three pastors planned to meet at church on a weekday morning in early May. Two months after shutting down all in-person gatherings to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, their houses of worship were still closed — and the men were determined to bring the word of God to their parishioners in need. But news of the meeting spread like sparks from kindling, and more than 40 representatives of roughly 1,500 California churches showed up. They sat six feet apart, masks covering their mouths and noses. (Parvini, 5/31)
Boston Globe: Some Clergy Voice Caution About Reopening As COVID-19 Cases Continue To Drop In Massachusetts
As Massachusetts continued its recovery Saturday from the coronavirus pandemic, some clergy voiced caution about opening their doors too soon, while protesters at the State House blasted Governor Charlie Baker for moving too slowly in restarting the state’s economy. The coronavirus has claimed the lives of 6,768 people in Massachusetts, according to the state Department of Public Health, which reported 50 new deaths on Saturday. The agency also reported 789 new cases, bringing the total number of people with COVID-19 to 96,301. (Hilliard and Jungreis, 5/30)
