Orders from New York governor and mayor were unfair.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Letitia James, and New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio “exceeded” their executive limits when limiting worship services yet condoning mass protests as the state continues to reopen from restrictions under the coronavirus.
U.S. District Judge Gary L. Shapiro issued a preliminary injunction on Friday on behalf of two Catholic priests and a trio of Orthodox Jewish congregations. They had filed suit in the Northern District of New York after mass protests and looting occurred in the Big Apple while worship services were officially limited.
Mayor de Blasio had “simultaneous pro-protest/anti-religious gathering messages,” when he “actively encouraged participation in protests and openly discouraged religious gatherings and threatened religious worshipers,” Shapiro said in his federal order.
“Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio could have just as easily discouraged protests, short of condemning their message, in the name of public health and exercised discretion to suspend enforcement for public safety reasons instead of encouraging what they knew was a flagrant disregard of the outdoor limits and social distancing rules,” the judge added. “They could have also been silent. But by acting as they did, Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio sent a clear message that mass protests are deserving of preferential treatment.”
The Justice Department called the judge’s ruling a “win for religious freedom and the civil liberties of New Yorkers.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio to see the error of their ways in discriminating against worshippers.
- About other assaults on religious freedoms that are occurring across the country.
- About necessary public health and safety precautions in the face of the coronavirus that are needed to protect lives.
Sources: New York Times, Fox News
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