The only thing that should be surprising about this ruling is the dissent. They can’t cite any applicable case law because there isn’t any. Up until now the Court has always treated the states’ (note states and not federal) police power in a pandemic to be near plenary. This is in line with English common law that developed under the shadow of the repeated waves of Bubonic Plague. Maybe that should change in light of…
Although I happen to agree that, in this case, the order respects the freedom of religion; I also appreciate the dissent. I'd be disturbed if there was no hint of dissent when something pretty clearly goes against the text of the Constitution. We should all have a bit of hesitation as this unprecedented stuff is happening, and make sure it's not permanent. Let's remember that this is all not normal, so hopefully we c…
Incorporation isn't clearly in the text of th Constitution, and this is State not Federal action. Even if incorporation were clear in the text, it's not at all clear that failing to exempt religious gatherings from a broader general prohibition would be clearly against the text. It's true that even incidental impacts to important rights from facially-neutral acts are given strict scrutiny under case law, but that application is itself not an unambiguous application of the text and it's far from clear that this would conflict with that precedent.