Last Wednesday, in a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court struck down New York State’s restrictions on houses of worship in coronavirus hotspots.
The lawsuits filed by Roman Catholic and Orthodox Jewish congregations challenged Gov. Andrew Coumo’s limits on how many people can worship, contending they violated their constitutional rights to religious freedom.
The governor imposed limits to prevent coronavirus super-spreader events, but the rules applied to churches, synagogues and mosques deemed “non-essential” while not to “essential” services like grocery stores or even pet shops.
“The restrictions at issue here, by effectively barring many from attending religious services, strike at the very heart of the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious liberty,” the majority decision stated. “Even in a pandemic, the constitution cannot be put away and forgotten.”
In a concurring opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee, wrote, “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.”
Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the liberal minority, while Justice Amy Coney Barrett, appointed recently to replace the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, gave the conservatives a majority.
In his dissenting opinion, Roberts said the court acted rashly, as the limits of 10 to 25 people were not unduly restrictive.
“It is a significant matter to override determinations made by public health officials concerning what is necessary for public safety in the midst of a deadly pandemic,” he wrote.
One of Washington’s first high-profile COVID-19 outbreaks took place in March after a 2½ -hour choir practice at a Mount Vernon church attended by 61 people. Afterward, 32 contracted coronavirus, three were hospitalized and two died.
In June a small church in northeastern Oregon violated lockdown restrictions, which led to 236 people tied to the Lighthouse Pentecostal Church in Union County contracting coronavirus, marking what was then the state’s largest outbreak.
In California, local officials noted 274 coronavirus cases since Aug. 13 stemmed from Redding’s Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, a megachurch of 11,000 members that hosted Bethel Music’s indoor concert with 2,500 people singing and standing together without wearing masks.
We do have a constitutional right to gather together and worship. But we must exercise our freedoms responsibly, which many church leaders are doing.
For example, when Gov. Jay Inslee allowed churches to reopen in late May, Toledo First Baptist did so — switching from its normal three indoor Sunday services to one at 11 a.m. outside in the city park with everyone wearing masks and socially distancing in family groups. When the park closed for the winter, the church shifted its service to the high school stadium. While I miss the camaraderie of attending in person, I’ve enjoyed watching Wednesday messages and Sunday services online from the comfort (and warmth) of home.
Unfortunately, pastors who take seriously the responsibility of protecting their congregations during this national pandemic have faced criticism—often from the very people they’re trying to protect.
Pastor David Bach of the Centralia Church of the Nazarene told a Chronicle reporter, “It’s really hard to be a pastor and an enforcer.”
When Inslee instituted the state’s second lockdown on religious services, limiting indoor gatherings to 25 percent capacity or 200 people (whichever is less) and barring bands and choirs from performing, Toledo First Baptist didn’t need to change much since it still meets outdoors. Worshippers gathering indoors faced major changes.
Smaller congregations can socially distance inside. Larger congregations such as Centralia Christian Church are using a pre-registration to limit attendance. Bach said he’s seen everyone wear a mask at church.
“I think sometimes out of sacrifice, you lay your rights aside for something better, and not make a selfish choice,” Bach said. “So we’ve been doing our best to be good team players. I don’t want people who might have an experience with our church to leave thinking that we don’t care.”
Unfortunately, that’s been a message shared by progressives on social media.
I saw a Facebook meme last weekend that said, “The fact that churches are suing to stay open instead of voluntarily doing what’s in the best interest of the public health tells you everything you need to know about churches and their values.”
I responded by pointing out what Toledo First Baptist has done — meeting outside, requiring masks and social distancing.
While the Constitution protects freedom of the press, it’s not without restriction. We cannot libel people without facing consequences in court (although dead people can’t sue for libel, so once we’re gone, we’re fair game).
The Constitution protects freedom of assembly, including peaceful protests, but it doesn’t allow protestors to riot, vandalize, and damage private or public property. With freedom comes responsibility.
The Second Amendment protects the rights of the people to keep and bear arms, but those rights come with responsibilities. People can’t go around shooting off guns willy-nilly or intimidating others without facing repercussions.
The government also bears responsibility for promoting the public health and welfare (including from infectious diseases and environmental hazards) just as it protects our national security.
Early in our nation’s history, local government quarantines were normal and widely accepted to stamp out the spread of yellow fever, typhoid, cholera and other infectious diseases at a time when average life expectancy in cities was about 25, according to “COVID-19 and the Constitution — Key Takeaways” by Jackie McDermott and Lana Ulrich, posted April 15, 2020, on Constitution Daily. Few people ever challenged those laws.
Most quarantine laws were imposed at the state level, although in 1886 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Morgan’s Steamship Co. v. Louisiana Board of Health that, under the Commerce Clause, Congress can preempt state action.
And in 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court in Jacobson v. Massachusetts upheld a state law that fined people for refusing to obtain the smallpox vaccination, which was designed to protect public health and safety, essentially deciding that the dangers smallpox posed to the community outweighed individual hazards from the vaccine.
Rick Yearout of Morton referenced this ruling in his recent letter to the editor, saying he researched the Constitution, Supreme Court, and Washington state laws after seeing many Americans contend mask mandates and lockdowns trash their rights and liberties. He noted that in 1905, Justice Marshall Harlan said the Constitution’s liberty is not “an absolute right in each person to be, in all times and in all circumstances, wholly free from restraint.”
Yearout said “too many selfish so-called constitutional patriots toss it aside like rubbish. If they are true patriots, and believe the Constitution is the supreme law, they would abide by the laws of the state and protect others by wearing a mask in public and follow group guidelines.”
I’m no constitutional lawyer, but I believe in protecting our rights and honoring veterans who have fought to preserve our freedoms. But again, with freedom comes responsibility.
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Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com.
