Supreme Court rejects Nevada church plea to allow larger congregation
"Sinclair Delays Broadcast Of 'Plandemic' Interview; Host Promises Better 'Context'"
The court voted 5 to 4 against the request.
A police officer walks outside the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, July 6, 2020. | AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
By MATTHEW CHOI
07/24/2020 09:17 PM EDT
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a Nevada church's request to block the state's cap on attendees for religious services amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The court voted 5 to 4 against the request, filed by Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley, with Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the liberal-leaning justices. The decision keeps in place a limit of 50 people in houses of worship due to the pandemic.
The church had argued the cap was an unfair attack on its First Amendment rights to free exercise of religion. It pointed out that the state allowed higher caps for restaurants and casinos — 50 percent capacity — but would not let its 90-person congregation assemble, even with social distancing protocols. A federal court upheld the state's policy, and the church sought an appeal last month at the 9th Circuit.
The conservative justices wrote in their dissent that the decision revealed preferential treatment for for-profit enterprises over houses of worship.
"The world we inhabit today, with a pandemic upon us, poses unusual challenges," Justice Neil Gorsuch, an appointee of President Donald Trump, wrote. "But there is no world in which the Constitution permits Nevada to favor Caesars Palace over Calvary Chapel."
The Supreme Court's decision was issued without comment. But in his June decision against the church, U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware wrote that other secular institutes that partake in activities similar to a house of worship are also restricted. Other venues with congregating audiences — such as museums, movie theaters and concert venues — are subject to similar or stricter restrictions, he wrote.
"It is not enough for Calvary to demonstrate that the directive is intermittently not being enforced against secular activities," Boulware wrote in his decision. "Calvary must also demonstrate that Defendants are only enforcing the directive against places of worship."
He also rejected the comparison between houses of worship and casinos, pointing out they operate differently and that casinos also remain constricted by substantial Covid-19-related regulations issued by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
The Supreme Court in May struck down .. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/29/supreme-court-denies-illinois-churches-lockdown-relief-290185 .. a plea from a San Diego church that California's lockdown order was inhibiting its right to free religion. That decision also fell narrowly along ideological lines, with Roberts siding with the liberal faction. Roberts argued against the court intervening in states' responses to a public health crisis.
"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," Roberts wrote at the time.
Trump questions how Fauci has a high approval rating 'but nobody likes me'
By Brett Samuels - 07/28/20 06:07 PM EDT
President Trump on Tuesday questioned why Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious diseases expert, has a higher approval rating with the public than he does on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
"It’s interesting. He’s got a very good approval rating, and I like that. It’s good," Trump said during a press briefing at the White House. "Because, remember, he’s working for this administration. He’s working with us. We could’ve gotten other people. We could’ve gotten somebody else. It didn't have to be Dr. Fauci. He's working with our administration, and for the most part, we've done pretty much what he and others ... recommended."
"He’s got this high approval rating, so why don’t I have a high approval rating ... with respect to the virus?" Trump wondered aloud.
The president cited the administration's increased production of masks, gowns, ventilators and other equipment after hospitals and state leaders warned in the early weeks of the pandemic that they were lacking those critical supplies. Trump also highlighted the sheer volume of testing the U.S. has performed, another area where the administration was slow to ramp up.
"It sort of is curious," Trump said. "A man works for us, with us, very closely, Dr. Fauci and Dr. [Deborah] Birx, also highly thought of, and yet they're highly thought of, but nobody likes me. It can only be my personality. That’s all."
President Trump on Tuesday questioned why Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious diseases expert, has a higher approval rating with the public than he does on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The president cited the administration's increased production of masks, gowns, ventilators and other equipment after hospitals and state leaders warned in the early weeks of the pandemic that they were lacking those critical supplies. Trump also highlighted the sheer volume of testing the U.S. has performed, another area where the administration was slow to ramp up.
"It sort of is curious," Trump said. "A man works for us, with us, very closely, Dr. Fauci and Dr. [Deborah] Birx, also highly thought of, and yet they're highly thought of, but nobody likes me. It can only be my personality. That’s all."
Public polling has consistently shown Fauci, who has worked at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for roughly four decades, to be among the most trusted voices on the coronavirus. Trump, meanwhile, has gotten low marks for his handling of the pandemic.
A Quinnipiac University poll released July 15 .. https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=3666 ,, showed 67 percent of respondents do not trust the information Trump provides about the virus, compared with 65 percent who said they do trust the information Fauci delivers.
The president's commentary underscored the degree to which he has become frustrated with Fauci's standing with the public amid the pandemic. Trump has in the past become irritated with aides who garner too much attention while working for him, with Fauci becoming the latest example. The New York Times reported that Trump was so bothered by Fauci being asked to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Washington Nationals opener last week that he abruptly announced he would be throwing out a first pitch at a New York Yankees game next month before such an event had been finalized. Trump later tweeted that he would throw out a pitch at a later date.
The president stoked fresh speculation about his frustrations with Fauci late Monday when he retweeted a message that said Fauci "has misled the American public on many issues, but in particular, on dismissing #hydroxychloroquine and calling Remdesivir the new gold standard."
“I don't tweet. I don't even read them, so I don't really want to go there,” Fauci said. “I just will continue to do my job no matter what comes out because I think it's very important.”
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