Cuomo blames new conservative majority for High Court's COVID-19 decision

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is blaming the new conservative majority on the Supreme Court for a decision late Wednesday against his state's COVID-19 restrictions on churches and places of worship.

In remarks to reporters on Thursday, Cuomo said he thinks the ruling “was really just an opportunity for the court to express its philosophy and politics" and that it was making a "statement" with the vote.

The court's five conservatives, including Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was confirmed just before the Nov. 3 presidential election and replaced liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, ruled against the New York measures. Chief Justice John Roberts and the court's three liberal justices were in the minority.

The ruling suspended rules by New York that limited capacity at churches, depending on the degree to which areas in the state were experiencing high waves of the coronavirus, to 10 and 25 people.

“You have a different court, and I think that was the statement that the court was making,” the governor said, according to a report in The New York Times. “We know who he appointed to the court. We know ... (Read more)

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