US Supreme Court Partially Lifts California Ban On Indoor Worship

In a ruling that split the baby, the US Supreme Court yesterday issued an injunction pending appeal against California's ban on indoor worship over most of the state, but it left in place the ban on singing and chanting. According to The Hill:

In a 6-3 ruling, the judges held that the state can’t ban indoor worship, but it can cap indoor services at 25 percent capacity. The court also didn’t stop the state from enforcing a ban on indoor singing and chanting.

The court ruled in two cases brought against the state by churches — one by South Bay United Pentecostal Church and another by Harvest Rock Church — over restrictions in the state.

California had moved to bar indoor worship services and other indoor activities such as dining and movie screenings in areas designated as "Tier 1" — which covers most of the state — due to high coronavirus numbers.

Liberty Counsel, which represents one group of plaintiffs, explained on its site:

The injunction remains in place until further litigation is completed in the courts below and a petition for writ of cert is acted upon by the Supreme Court. Liberty Counsel will return to the lower courts to continue litigating the ban on singing and chanting.

. . . [T]he lower courts refused to properly apply the Supreme Court’s constitutional road map. While the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the injunction pending appeal against Newsom’s “Blueprint” Tiers 2-4, it upheld Tier 1 and the Regional Stay-at-Home Order, which imposed a complete ban on in-person worship. Tiers 2-3 placed a 100- and 200- person cap on all houses of worship despite the size of the building. Tier 1 banned ALL WORSHIP. The three-judge Ninth Circuit panel for Harvest Rock Church said it was bound to follow the recent panel decision in South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom, which was released on January 22.

Los Angeles County had already lifted the statewide Tier 1 ban on indoor worship on its own initiative, although the county continues to be in Tier 1. Although the Supreme Court (arbitrarily, it seems to me) now allows a 25% capacity limit, the LA County restrictions are somewhat more vague. It's doubtful that this will have a major impact on indoor worship as it's now held in LA County.

The chief benefit of the ruling is that it prevents Gov Newsom from unilterally rescinding any permission for indoor worship, which he did last summer after briefly allowing it. But since the court's ruling is a preliminary injunction pending appeal, arguments regarding the ban on singing and chanting will eventually also be heard when the case actually reaches the court.

But in general, there is no scientific support, in the form of statistical or peer-reviewed epidemiological studies, for the view that restricting indoor activities, including dining or worship services, or prohibiting singing and chanting, has any effect on COVID transmission. This is only to say that such studies don't exist, not that there's no effect. However, at this time, there's considerable variation among states and local jurisdictions on what's permitted, and there's no evidence that less restrictive measures have caused greater outbreaks of the disease.

The bottom line is that churches have a long way to go to get their choirs back, not to mention coffee hour, dinners, fundraisers, and Bible study.