Federal judge sides with COVID-19 religious restrictions in Brooklyn

NEW YORK

A federal judge late Friday allowed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to move forward with new restrictions on gatherings at synagogues and other houses of worships, finding that the rules did not violate the free exercise of religion for Orthodox Jews.

The ruling in federal court in Brooklyn came after Agudath Israel of America, a national Orthodox Jewish organization, sued Cuomo this week over his latest executive order detailing an array of new restrictions to address rising coronavirus cases in neighborhoods with large populations of Orthodox Jews.

After an emergency hearing Friday, the judge declined to temporarily block Cuomo’s executive order before three Jewish holidays over the weekend. She said she sympathized with the order’s impact on the Orthodox Jewish community, but rejected the argument that Cuomo had unconstitutionally targeted a religious minority.

“How can we ignore the compelling state interest in protecting the health and life of all New Yorkers?” said Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto of U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.

When announcing the executive order, Cuomo set new capacity limits for houses of worship. In zones with the highest infection rates, houses of worship would be limited to 25% capacity or a maximum of 10 people, while those in a less severe hot spot could have 50% capacity.

Matsumoto, noting that the order also shut down nonessential businesses and schools in the hardest-hit zones, found that the new rules were not motivated by an intention to discriminate against Orthodox Jews. The religious burdens caused by the restrictions were outweighed by the need to stop “the most significant health crisis in living memory,” she said.

Lawyers for Agudath Israel, an umbrella group with affiliated synagogues around the country, had argued that the new rules were unconstitutional. Orthodox Jews are disproportionately affected, they said, because they are prohibited from driving during religious holidays and cannot travel to synagogues in neighborhoods with fewer restrictions.

In a tweet after the ruling, Agudath Israel called the decision a “crushing disappointment” while reminding its followers to adhere to health guidelines.

The judge’s decision means that Cuomo can impose the new restrictions, which went into effect Friday, as the lawsuit progresses. Anyone who violates the order against mass gatherings can be subject to a daily fine of $15,000.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn also filed a similar lawsuit against Cuomo, arguing that the restrictions would effectively force at least two dozen churches in Brooklyn and Queens to close. After a separate hearing Friday, a different judge said he would decide at a later time whether to block the executive order.

The legal actions underscored the challenge facing New York officials as they try to fight off a second wave of virus infections and navigate a crisis at the intersection of public health, religion and politics. Some areas in New York City had infection rates of around 8%, officials said, far higher than the 1% rate for the rest of the city.

The restrictions were intended to curb worrisome outbreaks of the coronavirus in Brooklyn, Queens and New York City’s northern suburbs, including several areas with large Orthodox populations. Orthodox synagogues have in recent months become scenes of large gatherings of worshipers clustered together, many not wearing face coverings.

“This is the last thing I want to do,” Cuomo said earlier this week. “It’s a difficult conversation, and you’re right on the lne of government intrusion on religion.”

Cuomo’s announcement came on the eve of three Jewish holidays —– Hoshana Rabbah, Shemini Atzeret and Simhat Torah.

Lawyers for the state argued that the restrictions did not unfairly target the Orthodox Jewish community, saying it was not a violation of the Constitution to acknowledge that religious gatherings have a higher risk of spreading the virus.

“The First Amendment’s protections do not require that the government ignore reality and common sense,” a lawyer for the state wrote in a court filing Friday.