New York Governor violates religious liberty again. Two Catholic priests, two Catholic school students, and four Orthodox Jewish individuals are renewing an ongoing lawsuit against Andrew Cuomo, the head of New York state, for imposing new, draconian restrictions on religious services. This comes nearly four months after a federal judge enjoined Cuomo from treating houses of worship differently from exempted businesses and activities.

The Thomas More Society filed an Emergency Amended Complaint and Motion for Temporary Restraining Order on October 9, 2020, in United States District Court for the Northern District of New York on behalf of the priests and individuals. The new filing shows that Cuomo and other state officials are now singling out religious gatherings for special burdens without showing any evidence that religious gatherings, and not countless other exempted gatherings and activities, are unique sources of spreading COVID-19.

On October 5, Governor Cuomo threatened to shut down New York churches and synagogues if they did not continue to limit religious gatherings to 50% of their indoor capacity, which was the relief provided for several of the above plaintiffs by federal court order on June 26, 2020, through the exclusive representation of Thomas More Society attorneys. But just one day later, on October 6, the governor pivoted and issued a new policy called the “Cluster Action Initiative,” virtually shutting down churches and synagogues in various newly created “Red Zones” throughout New York City and other state locales. He also completely shut down religious schools in both the “Red Zones” and in the newly designated “Orange Zones.”

The most restrictive “Red Zones” single out “houses of worship” and limit them to religious gatherings of up to 25% percent capacity, but cap that number at a maximum of ten people. “Orange Zones” limit “houses of worship” to 33% of capacity but no more than 25 people, and the also newly defined Yellow Zones limit “houses of worship” to 50% of capacity.

Meanwhile, all “essential businesses” are exempt in every zone, including retail shopping, factories, shelters, airplane travel, and numerous other activities typically involving crowds of people in confined spaces. Most “non-essential” businesses can reopen in the “Orange Zone,” and all non-essential businesses, including indoor dining, can reopen in the “Yellow Zone,” all without any limitations on their percent of capacity. “Houses of worship” alone are singled out for special limitations.

“The governor’s new ‘Cluster Action Initiative’ is a completely arbitrary and astounding abuse of power, just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse,” stated Thomas More Society Special Counsel Christopher Ferrara. “It is a blatant violation of our clients’ right to the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment, including their right to be free from such explicit and brazen religious discrimination.”

The Thomas More Society’s new complaint shows that Cuomo expressly singled out religious gatherings as the reasons for his new restrictions, without any evidence showing that they are unique sources of viral spread. In his October 6 press conference, Cuomo admitted the new regime “is most impactful on houses of worship,” and any impact on secular businesses is “not what this is about.”

Cuomo’s actions also shut down all schools, including religious schools, in the “Red Zones” and “Orange Zones,” and has allowed them to open or reopen in the “Yellow Zone” only if even asymptomatic children and staff submit to weekly and invasive COVID-19 testing. This is despite the fact both Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio have admitted that COVID-19 has not been a problem in schools thus far. The Catholic school in Brooklyn, which is attended by the two students represented by the Thomas More Society, has adopted protocols more restrictive than required by the state or recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, and has had zero positive COVID-19 tests since opening on September 9.

Ferrara added: “The governor’s closure of Catholic and Jewish schools in these zones is just as absurd. It is the very antithesis of a narrowly tailored restriction on religion and expression, which is what the Constitution requires given the role of religious schools in handing down their respective faiths to children. Cuomo claims this will last for only 14 days, but we saw how that worked the last time he got on his emperor’s throne and began tossing endless mandates.”

Cuomo’s dictatorial mandates for his “Red Zones” or cluster areas is not a neutral scientific designation, according to the Thomas More Society filing. Rather, it is a violation of the free exercise of religion – in fact, it distinctly targets religious practices. The governor’s new and illegal policy does not prohibit nonreligious conduct such as the operation of factories, warehouses, and crowded homeless shelters – it discriminatorily and prejudicially limits worship and shuts down church-operated schools.

It also came just days before the culmination of the Jewish High Holy Days, beginning on Friday evening, October 9, with Hoshana Rabbah, continuing with Shemini Atzeret on October 10, and concluding on Sunday, October 11, with Simchat Torah (literally translated as Happiness of the Torah), perhaps “the most joyous day of the year” for Jewish worshippers. Yet the four Jewish individuals represented by the Thomas More Society all reside in the most restrictive “Red Zone” in Brooklyn and, without immediate relief. For that reason, the Thomas More Society requested the court to provide them immediate relief from Cuomo’s draconian new religious crackdown.

On June 26, 2020, Senior U.S. District Judge Gary L. Sharpe issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting Governor Cuomo, his Attorney General Letitia James, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio from enforcing previous orders treating the original plaintiffs in this case (including the two Catholic priests and three of the four Jewish individuals) less favorably than New York’s COVID-19 “Phase 2 Industries,” which included many offices, retail outlets, personal care services, and more, and which at the time were limited to occupancy rates of 50% of their indoor capacity.

Read the Emergency Amended Complaint and Motion for Temporary Restraining Order filed October 9, 2020, in United States District Court for the Northern District of New York by the Thomas More Society on behalf of Rev. Steven Soos, Rev. Nicholas Stamos, Jeanette Ligresti as guardian of her infant children P.L. and G.L., Daniel Schonbrun, Elchanan Perr, Mayer Mayerfeld, and Morton Avigdor in Rev. Steven Soos, et al v. Andrew M. Cuomo, et al, here.