The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in favor of a northern Colorado church that sued Gov. Jared Polis over capacity limits on religious gatherings, reiterating a stance the highest court took in a similar case last month.
High Plains Harvest Church in Weld County sued Polis and Colorado public health officials in May over the state’s orders limiting attendance at houses of worship to 50 people.
The U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday sent the case back to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for further consideration in light of the high court’s previous ruling in favor of New York Catholic and Orthodox churches that raised similar concerns about in-person limits.
The ruling isn’t expected to have a major impact on religious services in Colorado because the state already lifted its limits on in-person attendance at such gatherings. Three Supreme Court justices dissented from Tuesday’s ruling because of that change, on the grounds the case is moot.
Barry Arrington, who represented High Plains Harvest Church, said Tuesday that the issue is still prevalent, given that Polis and state health officials frequently change and tweak coronavirus restrictions.
“The state has in the past amended this thing willy nilly, and there is nothing to stop them from amending it tomorrow,” he said of the orders, adding that the congregation will practice social distancing during its services, and only objects to the arbitrary 50-person attendance cap, not other health precautions.
Arrington hopes to reach a mutually agreed on resolution with the state on the case now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled, he said.
Polis spokesman Conor Cahill said in a statement that the ruling would have “little to no impact on our state” because the contested restrictions have already been lifted.
Colorado health officials and Polis have faced several legal challenges to their coronavirus-related restrictions on religious activities, and in most cases the local courts have sided with the state, although one district court judge ruled in favor of two churches in Wheat Ridge and Brighton that challenged the mask-wearing mandate and capacity limitations.
The U.S. Supreme Court has shifted its position on coronavirus restrictions for religious institutions since the pandemic began — at the start, when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was still on the bench, the justices divided 5-4 to leave in place pandemic-related capacity restrictions affecting churches in California and Nevada.
With Justice Amy Coney Barrett replacing the late Ginsburg, the court’s approach changed. Barrett joined with the majority in both the Colorado and New York cases.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
