Is it fettering the Constitution to say for this period of time, in the interest of public health, you should practice your religion outside or with fewer people inside?
In the mainstream, no.
And as a matter of fact, it may be argued that the Court should never have agreed to hear the case in the first place, because it's long been held that health concerns are subject to individual state police powers (Legal Precedents for Epidemic Response), and case law has upheld it...
Originally Posted by : Mentioned in above-inked doc
One such case was Jacobson v. Massachusetts in 1905. A man named Henning Jacobson wanted to refuse a smallpox vaccine and maintained he had the legal right to do so. However, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the state, stating that “a community has the right to protect itself against an epidemic of disease which threatens the safety of its members.†(*))
And further, there's a very recent lower court decision - which the Court "brazenly" ignored - that spelled out the science in no uncertain terms...
What is especially disappointing in the Supreme Court decision is that the lower court had made the correct points very clearly in a decision that was brazenly overlooked by the majority decision. The Federal District Court had noted that: "Among the other problematic features of religious gatherings, congregants arrive and leave at the same time, physically greet one another, sit or stand close together, share or pass objects, and sing or chant in a way that allows for airborne transmission of the virus."
Footnote: I've got no idea how deep into the Jewish community the decision will sink, but Agudath Israel, the Jewish plaintiff, represents the haredim, groups within Ultra-Orthodox Judaism characterized by a strict (I'd call it maniacal) adherence to Jewish law and traditions, who are pretty much isolated within their own communities and will pass the disease on to pretty much nobody but other members of their own community.
Sidenote: Gorsuch's concurring opinion is so scientifically illiterate and so contrived to justify that illiteracy that he should be embarrassed by having written it.
But stepping out of the mainstream, my approval of the decision against NYS is rooted in its leaving unfettered Gaia's "constitutional right" to (as grelber has so eloquently put it) "thin the herd." (I don't even try to hide it: I'm a huge fan of death!)
(*) THAT scares the bejeezus out of me! I'm not about to roll up my sleeve for a vaccine that was researched, tested, and brought to market in 6-8 months.
The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.
In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
