Page:Roman Catholic Dioceses of Brooklyn v. Cuomo.pdf/33

Rh President’s statements did not show “that the challenged restrictions violate the ‘minimum requirement of neutrality’ to religion,” ante, at 2 (quoting Lukumi, 508 U. S., at 533), it is hard to see how Governor Cuomo’s do.

Free religious exercise is one of our most treasured and jealously guarded constitutional rights. States may not discriminate against religious institutions, even when faced with a crisis as deadly as this one. But those principles are not at stake today. The Constitution does not forbid States from responding to public health crises through regulations that treat religious institutions equally or more favorably than comparable secular institutions, particularly when those regulations save lives. Because New York’s COVID–19 restrictions do just that, I respectfully dissent.