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South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom

140 S. Ct. 1613 (2020)

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South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom

United States Supreme Court
140 S. Ct. 1613 (2020)

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Facts

By May 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in California and hundreds of thousands of people nationwide. At the time, there was no vaccine, and the virus that caused COVID-19 had no effective treatment and no known cure. In an effort to stop the virus’s spread, California Governor Gavin Newsom (defendant) issued an executive order that placed restrictions on certain public gatherings. Specifically, the order limited attendance at worship services to 25 percent of a building’s capacity or 100 attendees, whichever was smaller. The order placed similar or more severe restrictions on secular lectures, concerts, movie theaters, sports events, and theatrical performances. However, the order placed less severe restrictions on grocery and retail stores, banks, laundromats, hair salons, and similar businesses. South Bay United Pentecostal Church (the church) (plaintiff) applied to the United States Supreme Court for a temporary injunction prohibiting California from enforcing the attendance cap on worship services, arguing that the restriction violated the First Amendment Free Exercise Clause.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)

Concurrence (Roberts, C.J.)

Dissent (Kavanaugh, J.)

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