BREYER, J., dissenting
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
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No. 20A87
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ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK v. ANDREW M. CUOMO, GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK
ON APPLICATION FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF
[November 25, 2020]
JUSTICE BREYER, with whom JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR and JUSTICE KAGAN join, dissenting.
New York regulations designed to fight the rapidly spreading—and, in many cases, fatal—COVID–19 virus permit the Governor to identify hot spots where infection rates have spiked and to designate those hot spots as red zones, the immediately surrounding areas as orange zones, and the outlying areas as yellow zones. Brief in Opposition in No. 20A87, p. 12. The regulations impose restrictions within these zones (with the strictest restrictions in the red zones and the least strict restrictions in the yellow zones) to curb transmission of the virus and prevent spread into nearby areas. Ibid. In October, the Governor designated red, orange, and yellow zones in parts of Brooklyn and Queens. Brief in Opposition in Agudath Israel of America v. Cuomo, O. T. 2020, No. 20A90, pp. 10–11 (Brief in Opposition in No. 20A90). Among other things, the restrictions in these zones limit the number of persons who can be present at one time at a gathering in a house of worship to: the lesser of 10 people or 25% of maximum capacity in a red zone; the lesser of 25 people or 33% of maximum capacity in an orange zone; and 50% of maximum capacity in a yellow zone. Id., at 8–9.
Both the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Agudath Israel of America (together with Agudath Israel of
