U.S. Supreme Court rules New York governor's coronavirus restrictions on churches unconstitutional, setting the stage for similar rulings in inferior courts, including in Ohio where coronavirus restrictions issued by its GOP governor are under scrutiny ....By Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio and in the Midwest, and the most read independent digital news sites in Ohio. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.

By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor in chief. Coleman trained for 17 years as a reporter with the Call and Post Newspaper and is an investigative and political reporter with a background in legal and scientific reporting. She is also a former 15-year public school biology teacher.

WASHINGTON.  D.C- The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday barred New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo from enforcing restrictions on the number of people attending church and synagogue services designed to slow the coronavirus pandemic, ruling 5-4 that the restrictions are unconstitutional and violate the free exercise clause of the first amendment. 

Before the high court ruling came down this week, religious venues in New York were at times limited to 10 people in red zones, and 25 people in purple zones.

"The restrictions at issue here, by effectively barring many from attending religious services, strike at the very heart of the First Amendment's guarantee of religious liberty," the unsigned majority decision reads in part. "Even in a pandemic, the constitution cannot be put away and forgotten."

Newly confirmed Trump appointee Justice Amy Coney Barrett sided with the four other conservatives on the court, including Clarence Thomas, the only Black on the court.

Chief Justice John Roberts, sometimes a swing vote, joined the three liberal justices, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayer and  Stephen Bryer, in dissenting. 

The attorneys for the leading plaintiff in the case, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Agudath Israel of America, argued that New York's limitations on the number of people who could attend services in designated coronavirus hot spots was arbitrary and overly restrictive, and violated the free exercise clause of the first amendment, which prohibits .

The court agreed.

Attorneys for the state of New York countered that such restrictions are necessary to curb the spread of the virus as the U.S averages 1,600 new coronavirus cases per day and leads all countries with confirmed cases and deaths, some 260,000 people in America dead from the virus that  hit the U.S. in early March with a vengeance. 

The ruling, which is contrary to lower court rulings on the issue, is a departure from the court's opposite rulings earlier this year in similar cases out of Nevada and California, decisions issued by the court before the death of the late liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whom Barrett succeeded. 

Those decisions upheld such-type coronavirus restrictions. 

The largest city in the nation by population with some 8.5 million residents, New York leads all of the 50 states and Washington D.C. as to deaths from the deadly disease, posting nearly 35,000 deaths. 

Wednesday's Supreme Court ruling opens the door for similar rulings countrywide by inferior courts as lawsuits remain pending in states where governors have issued restrictions on attendance at churches and other religious sanctuaries during a pandemic that is out of control .

Some state legislators are taking actions against the restrictions too, like in Ohio where lawmakers have, over the past two weeks, passed bills  that curtail restrictions to businesses and strip its GOP governor, Mike DeWine, from issuing certain coronavirus executive orders, DeWine promising to veto such controversial measures.  

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio and in the Midwest, and the most read independent digital news sites in Ohio. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.