Gov. Cuomo Asks Court To Overturn His Own COVID Restrictions On Houses Of Worship

New York governor Andrew Cuomo has asked a federal court to block the state’s own restrictions on capacity at houses of worship in areas with high rates of coronavirus spread.

Cuomo issued an executive order in October ordering houses of worship to accept no more than ten people in so-called coronavirus “red” zones,” while 25 worshippers could be allowed in “orange” zones.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in November that those restrictions were unconstitutional, in a case brought by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Agudath Israel, an umbrella organization of Orthodox Jewish groups.

The Supreme Court’s ruling referred the case back to a lower court. The case was then referred to the U.S. District Court for New York’s Eastern District, which struck down the pandemic restrictions on worship on Monday.

Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto wrote in the Monday injunction that the Defendant [Cuomo] has agreed to an injunction against enforcement of the…capacity limits in red and orange zones

Subsequently, Defendant’s counsel has represented in status conferences that before the end of February 2021,” the executive order’s restrictions “will be amended to remove houses of worship.”

Matsumoto’s ruling came after lawyers for the governor asked to cancel a hearing on the case, in a series of filings first reported by The New York Times.