Kagan Warns the Supreme Court's New COVID Decision May Kill People

[marmar]

(Slate) Late on Friday night, the Supreme Court blocked California’s public health ban on indoor religious services in a splintered 6–3 decision that augurs a major shift in the law of religious liberty. Justice Elena Kagan’s extraordinary dissent accused her conservative colleagues of endangering lives by overruling public health officials and potentially facilitating the spread of COVID-19. But the court’s new conservative majority ignored her warning—and, in the process, gave itself new powers to strike down alleged burdens on religious freedom. The Supreme Court effectively tossed out decades of case law in a late-night emergency order, unsettling precedent that states have relied upon to craft COVID restrictions. As Kagan sharply noted, Friday’s order “injects uncertainty into an area where uncertainty has human costs.”

South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom is the latest in a long line of COVID cases to reach the Supreme Court. The plaintiffs challenged three pandemic-related restrictions on religious worship: a total ban on indoor services in areas where cases are surging (which covers much of the state right now); a 25 percent cap on indoor services where they are permitted; and a ban on singing and chanting during those services.

In amuddled order, SCOTUS shot down the total ban on indoor services, but upheld the 25 percent cap and the singing ban. The majority’s decision—issued as a highly infectious “California variant” of the coronavirus sweeps across the state—allows residents to resume indoor worship, the cause of countless superspreader events since the start of the pandemic. While there is no single majority opinion, five justices supported the proposition that California’s regime violates free exercise because it treats secular businesses more favorably than religious establishments. Notably, no justice in the majority even pretended to apply the appropriate standard for this emergency request, which requires plaintiffs to prove that the legal rights at issue are “indisputably clear” and that an injunction is “in the public interest.” They simply issued a decision on the merits, another example of the court making law through its shadow docket. ..............(more)

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/02/covid-elena-kagan-supreme-court-kill.html

[hedda_foil]

1. "California variant"? I missed this. Does anybody have a good link about it?

Google is my friend. I found it and it has three ugly mutations.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2021/02/03/concerns-grow-over-the-newly-discovered-southern-california-covid-19-variant/?sh=283b366797a6

Concerns Grow Over The Newly Discovered Southern California Covid-19 Variant
William A. Haseltine
William A. HaseltineContributor
Healthcare

The rate at which new variants have appeared over the past few months is alarming. In the past few weeks alone, along with the insurgence of the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7) and South African (B.1.351) variants, more have been identified in Brazil, Ohio, and now California. The increased rates of infection and deaths in Manaus, Brazil, despite prior infections affecting 76% of the population, serve as a warning that a new variant may reinfect a population infected with an earlier strain. A similar situation may be occurring in Southern California. Here we examine their situation in more detail.

One of the few vigorous SARS-CoV-2 genome sequencing efforts in the US comes from Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. Analyzing countless samples on the lookout for the dangerous emerging variants, researchers found a strain all its own as far back as July. Only a single sample at the time, not much was thought of it. Fast forward to January and the California variant (CAL.20C) accounts for half of the analyzed isolates.
[more]

[SergeStorms]

2. It has nothing to do with religious "freedom"...

but it certainly does put the public's health at risk. Freaking god botherers. Their stupid beliefs are more important than other people's health.

So fuck Joe Manchin, it's time to increase the number of Supreme Court Justices. Insipid religious beliefs should never outweigh science.

[dhill926]

4. I'm with ya...

[50 Shades Of Blue]

3. These fucking pious hypocrites really will kill us all one way or another.

[Atticus]

5. "Balance" the Court by appointing 4 new justices. The number "9" is not enshrined anywhere,

including the Constitution.

The 6-3 conservative majority was STOLEN by McConnell with the unwavering assistance of the Erdogan wannabe in the White House (whose political convictions amount to "WHATEVAH!" ) and deserves no respect.

[thinkingagain]

7. Even Jesus had 12 disciples

That can be used as an argument for the truly devoted Christians that so many pretend to be.
After all it was those so called Christians who pushed through if nothing else Amy Barret

[Rebl2]

8. Because

McConnell did not allow Obama his last pick for the Supreme Court, he owes us a nominee for each year the crook trump was in office!

[PSPS]

6. I guess law school is the premiere place to learn about medicine.

[badboy67]

9. Evangelicals would nuke the planet into oblivion, writhing on the floor, speaking in "tongues," and

giving blind subservience to whatever racist, slick talking conman, and would-be Dictator of America, that the GOP $h!t$ out of its clenched white butthole in 2024.

Count. On. It.

[mezame]

10. Darwin Awards For All Of Em

what did Scrooge used to say? Something about a decrease in the surplus population? If these Morans want to purposely remove themselves from the gene pool, so be it.

[SunSeeker]

11. There should be 13 justices--1 for each federal Circuit Court of Appeals.

And in 1807, Jefferson and Congress added a seventh Justice when it added a seventh federal court circuit.

In early 1837, President Andrew Jackson was able to add two additional Justices after Congress again expanded the federal circuit courts by adding two more.

So, when we settled on 9 justices, there were on 9 federal Circuit Courts.

That is how we came up with that 9 number. But there are now 13 circuit courts, including the DC Circuit. https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/court-role-and-structure

It is long overdue that we expand the supreme Court to reflect the additional circuit courts.