Supreme Court Rebukes Polis

The Supreme Court has ordered lower courts in New Jersey and Colorado to re-hear religious liberty lawsuits concerning coronavirus restrictions for religious gatherings after the high court’s recent decision not to allow New York to impose similar restrictions.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit must now re-hear the lawsuit brought by High Plains Harvest Church against Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who had ordered restrictions on church gatherings that exceeded those of so-called “essential” businesses.

In light of the Supreme Court’s November decision to strike down New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s executive order limiting the size of religious gatherings, the lower courts must reexamine the lawsuits in context of the more recent ruling.

Justices Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor dissented, writing that the case is now moot because Colorado already lifted its capacity limits on religious gatherings citing the decision in New York, but the Supreme Court’s order indicates the desire to have the issues in the lawsuits codified by having them ruled correctly.

The court’s turn towards religious liberty stands in contrast to where it stood prior to the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, when the court rejected religious groups’ challenges to restrictions in both California and Nevada in 5-4 decisions. Chief Justice John Roberts notably voted with the court’s liberals and against the religious challenges to coronavirus-based restrictions.

Mile High Evening News has argued since November 2020 that Polis’ executive order is illegal on multiple fronts.