US Supreme Court Issues ruling in Case Filed by Lakewood Rabbi Challenging Murphys Restrictions

 Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court sided with Lakewood Rabbi Yisrael Knopfler .

The court sided with a New Jersey reverend and rabbi who sued over health orders put in place by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and state officials that imposed capacity limits at places of worship. There were no noted dissents from that ruling. The justices ordered the lower courts to decide the disputes in line with a 5-4 ruling they issued on Thanksgiving eve in a New York lawsuit. That case saw the court bar authorities from enforcing attendance restrictions at churches and synagogues that New York had put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19. Technically NJ could still enforce its restrictions  since there is no injunction as the supreme court pushed the case to be ruled on by the lower court. (The Hill)

Ruling from Scotus here and below

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020 ORDER IN PENDING CASE

20A95 ROBINSON, KEVIN, ET AL. V. MURPHY, GOV. OF NJ, ET AL.

The application for injunctive relief, presented to Justice Alito and by him referred to the Court, is treated as a petition for a writ of certiorari before judgment, and the petition is granted.

The October 2 order of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey is vacated, and the case is remanded to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit with

instructions to remand to the District Court for further consideration in light of Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, 592 U. S. ___ (2020)