In Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo (2020), the Supreme Court recently granted a preliminary injunction against (i.e. temporarily blocked) New York’s COVID-19 restrictions on attendance at houses of worship (pending further litigation), siding with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and two orthodox Jewish synagogues, who argued that the restrictions violated the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment. Constitutional law experts Michael Dorf of Cornell Law School and David French of The Dispatch join host Jeffrey Rosen to unpack the decision, the restrictions at issue, and broader questions including: Has the Supreme Court become more open to claims of religious discrimination? And, in the context of the ongoing pandemic, does and should the Supreme Court still apply its usual judicial tests to determine if something is constitutional? They also explain the role of prior cases crucial to understanding the modern debate in the area of religious freedom law—from Employment Division v. Smith to Masterpiece Cakeshop and beyond.
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TRANSCRIPT
This transcript may not be in its final form, accuracy may vary, and it may be updated or revised in the future.
PARTICIPANTS
Michael Dorf is Robert S. Stevens Professor of Law at Cornell Law School. He writes a bi-weekly column for Justia's web magazine Verdict and posts several times per week on his own blog, Dorf on Law, where he wrote a recent post about this case.
David French is a senior editor for The Dispatch and was formerly a senior writer for National Review. David is a New York Times bestselling author, and the author of the new book Divided We Fall.
Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo: opinion
- Supreme Court decisions on COVID-19 restrictions in California—Harvest Rock Church et al v. Newsom (2020) and Nevada—Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley v. Sisolak (2020)
- Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah (1993)
- Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905)
- Employment Division v. Smith (1990)
- Sherbert v. Verner (1963)
- Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia (2020)
- Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018)
This episode was produced by Jackie McDermott and engineered by David Stotz. Research was provided by Lana Ulrich, Ashley Kemper, and Alexandra "Mac" Taylor.
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