BREYER, J., dissenting
a constitutional violation (on which they base their request for injunctive relief ) is far from clear. See post, p. 1 (dissenting opinion). (All of these matters could be considered and discussed in the ordinary course of proceedings at a later date.) At the same time, the public’s serious health and safety needs, which call for swift government action in ever changing circumstances, also mean that it is far from clear that “the balance of equities tips in [the applicants’] favor,” or “that an injunction is in the public interest.” Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 555 U. S. 7, 20 (2008).
Relevant precedent suggests the same. We have previously recognized that courts must grant elected officials “broad” discretion when they “undertake to act in areas fraught with medical and scientific uncertainties.” South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom, 590 U. S. ___, ___ (2020) (ROBERTS, C. J., concurring) (slip op., at 2) (alteration omitted). That is because the “Constitution principally entrusts the safety and the health of the people to the politically accountable officials of the States.” Ibid. (alterations and internal quotation marks omitted). The elected branches of state and national governments can marshal scientific expertise and craft specific policies in response to “changing facts on the ground.” Id., at 3. And they can do so more quickly than can courts. That is particularly true of a court, such as this Court, which does not conduct evidentiary hearings. It is true even more so where, as here, the need for action is immediate, the information likely limited, the making of exceptions difficult, and the disease-related circumstances rapidly changing.
I add that, in my view, the Court of Appeals will, and should, act expeditiously. The State of New York will, and should, seek ways of appropriately recognizing the religious interests here at issue without risking harm to the health and safety of the people of New York. But I see no practical
