New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo blasted the Supreme Court’s ruling blocking his restrictions on religious gatherings as an “irrelevant” political statement.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled 5-4, with newly confirmed Justice Amy Coney Barrett in the majority, to temporarily block Mr. Cuomo from enforcing capacity limits at churches and synagogues in certain state-designated coronavirus hot spots.
“The decision isn’t final, in the first place,” Mr. Cuomo said Thursday. “It goes back to the second circuit appeals court, so it’s not even a final legal decision.”
He added that the decision is “irrelevant of any practical impact because of the zone they were talking about is moot. It expired last week.”
“The lawsuit was about the Brooklyn zone,” he continued, WABC reported. “The Brooklyn zone no longer exists as a red zone. That’s mooted, so that restriction is not in effect. That’s why the whole case was moot. That’s what was irregular about the Supreme Court taking it up because this situation presented no longer exists, because we changed that zone designation last week or the week before.”
Mr. Cuomo said the decision was more about the high court expressing its ideological shift since conservative Justice Barrett was confirmed.
“I think that Supreme Court ruling on the religious gatherings is more illustrative of the Supreme Court than anything else,” he said. “I think this was really just an opportunity for the court to express its philosophy and politics.”
“You have a different court,” he added. “And I think that was the statement the court was making.”
