Supreme Court Says Santa Clara County Can't Ban Indoor Worship

Los Gatos CA

26 February, 2021

11:44 PM

Description

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday afternoon that Santa Clara County cannot enforce a ban on indoor worship services, reversing a decision by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in early February. The Ninth Circuit denied a motion to suspend the ban while it decides on an appeal filed by several South Bay churches. "The Ninth Circuit's failure to grant relief was erroneous," the court's unsigned order read. Justices Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor dissented in the 6-3 decision. The county expects to move into the red tier in the state's COVID-19 blueprint next week amid declining case rates and hospitalizations and plans to relax certain restrictions on indoor activities like dining and gatherings. But the county has repeatedly pushed back against allowing churches to hold indoor services, leading to five South Bay churches filing a lawsuit. The high court's ruling on Friday forces the county to allow churches to open for indoor services at 20 percent capacity. On Feb. 6, the Supreme Court had already ruled that California can't prohibit indoor worship services during the pandemic, but Santa Clara County had kept their ban because they claimed to have prohibited indoor gatherings of any kind. Santa Clara County Counsel James Williams said in a news release that the county was "disappointed" in the Supreme Court's decision. "The Supreme Court order was issued without any analysis at all of the County's gathering rules, which have always been neutral and applied equally to all gatherings across-the-board," Williams said. "Indoor gatherings of all kinds remain very risky, and we continue to urge all religious institutions to carefully follow the public health recommendations to avoid spread of COVID-19 among their congregations and the broader community."