Religious Liberty in COVID-19’s Wake

“These cases are very fact-specific and turn on the specific language of the bans in question. But there is another, more important reason for the courts’ division…. Under the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Employment Division v. Smith (1990), no right to an exemption exists where a law is neutral and generally applicable, that is, where the law does not target religion for disfavored treatment. If a ban on public gatherings qualifies as a neutral and generally applicable law, a church cannot prevail. - Law & Liberty