Case 20-3572, Document 49-2, 10/26/2020, 2960631, Page1 of 21 20-3572-CV IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT AGUDATH ISRAEL OF AMERICA, AGUDATH ISRAEL OF KEW GARDEN HILLS, AGUDATH ISRAEL OF MADISON, RABBI YISROEL REISMAN, and STEVEN SAPHIRSTEIN, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. ANDREW M. CUOMO, in his official capacity as Governor of New York, Defendant-Appellee. On appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, No. 1:20-cv-04834-KAM BRIEF AMICUS CURIAE OF THE BECKET FUND FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY AND THE JEWISH COALITION FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS- APPELLANTS AND AN INJUNCTION PENDING APPEAL Josh Blackman Eric C. Rassbach JEWISH COALITION FOR William J. Haun RELIGIOUS LIBERTY THE BECKET FUND FOR 1303 San Jacinto Street RELIGIOUS LIBERTY Houston, TX 77002 1200 New Hampshire Ave. N.W., (202) 294-9003 Ste. 700 Washington, DC 20036 (202) 955-0095 [email protected] Case 20-3572, Document 49-2, 10/26/2020, 2960631, Page2 of 21 RULE 26.1 CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT Pursuant to Rule 26.1 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, Each of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and The Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty states that it has no parent corporation and that no publicly held corporation owns any part of it. ii Case 20-3572, Document 49-2, 10/26/2020, 2960631, Page3 of 21 TABLE OF CONTENTS RULE 26.1 CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT ........................ ii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ..................................................................... iv INTEREST OF THE AMICI ..................................................................... 1 ARGUMENT ............................................................................................. 2 I. The Governor’s Order violates the Free Exercise Clause. .............................................................................................. 4 A. The Governor’s Order is not neutral. .......................................... 4 B. Governor Cuomo’s Order fails strict scrutiny. ............................ 7 II. Jacobson is also no defense. ........................................................... 10 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................ 12 CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE ........................................................ 13 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE ................................................................. 14 iii Case 20-3572, Document 49-2, 10/26/2020, 2960631, Page4 of 21 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page(s) Cases Bayley’s Campground, Inc. v. Mills, No. 20-cv-00176, 2020 WL 2791797 (D. Me. May 29, 2020) ......................................................................... 11 Brown v. Ent. Merchs. Ass’n, 564 U.S. 786 (2011) ............................................................................... 8 Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, 573 U.S. 682 (2014) ............................................................................... 1 Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley v. Sisolak, 140 S. Ct. 2603 (2020) ......................................................................... 11 Capitol Hill Baptist Church v. Bowser, No. 20-cv-02710, 2020 WL 5995126 (D.D.C. Oct. 9, 2020) .................................................................... 11, 12 Central Rabbinical Congress v. N.Y.C. Dep’t of Health & Mental Hygiene, 763 F.3d 183 (2d. Cir. 2014) ......................................................... 1, 4, 7 Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993) ....................................................................... 4, 6, 8 City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Ctr., 473 U.S. 432 (1985) ............................................................................... 9 Denver Bible Church v. Azar, No. 1:20-cv-02362 (D. Colo. Oct. 15, 2020) ......................................... 11 Employment Div. v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990) ............................................................................... 4 Fratello v. Archdiocese of N.Y., 863 F.3d 190 (2d Cir. 2017) .................................................................. 1 iv Case 20-3572, Document 49-2, 10/26/2020, 2960631, Page5 of 21 Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal, 546 U.S. 418 (2006) ......................................................... 7-8 Hassan v. City of N.Y., 804 F.3d 277 (3d Cir. 2015) .................................................................. 7 Holt v. Hobbs, 574 U.S. 352 (2015) ........................................................................... 1, 9 Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. EEOC, 565 U.S. 171 (2012) ............................................................................... 1 Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905) ................................................................... 10, 11, 12 Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944) ................................................................... 3, 11, 12 Lebovits v. Cuomo, No. 1:20-cv-01284 (N.D.N.Y. filed Oct. 16, 2020) ................................. 2 Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania, 140 S. Ct. 2367 (2020) ........................................................................... 1 McCullen v. Coakley, 573 U.S. 4646 (2014) ............................................................................. 9 New Hope Family Services v. Poole, 966 F.3d 145 (2d Cir. 2020) .................................................................. 4 Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, 140 S. Ct. 2049 (2020) ........................................................................... 1 Phillips v. City of New York, 775 F.3d 538 (2d Cir. 2015) .......................................................... 10, 11 Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158 (1944) ............................................................................. 11 Roberts v. Neace, 958 F.3d 409 (6th Cir. 2020) ................................................................. 7 v Case 20-3572, Document 49-2, 10/26/2020, 2960631, Page6 of 21 Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, No. 20-CV-4844, 2020 WL 5994954 (E.D.N.Y. Oct. 9, 2020) ......................................................................... 4 Shrum v. City of Coweta, 449 F.3d 1132 (10th Cir. 2006) ............................................................. 7 Trump v. Hawaii, 138 S. Ct. 2392 (2018) ................................................. 3 Turner Broad. Sys., Inc. v. FCC, 512 U.S. 622 (1994) ............................................................................... 9 W. Virginia State Bd. of Educ. v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943) ............................................................................... 3 Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972) ............................................................................... 8 Zucht v. King, 260 U.S. 174 (1922) ............................................................................. 10 Other Authorities Executive Order 202.68 ............................................................................. 5 FRAP 29 ..................................................................................................... 1 Governor Cuomo Is a Guest on CNN Newsroom with Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto, New York State (Oct. 9, 2020), ........................................................................................ 6 Governor Cuomo Updates New Yorkers on State’s Progress During COVID-19 Pandemic, New York State (Oct. 12, 2020) ....................................................................................... 8 Governor Cuomo Updates New Yorkers on State’s Progress During COVID-19 Pandemic, New York State (Oct. 5, 2020) ..................................................................................... 6, 7 Hana Levi Julian, Cuomo Warns Yeshivas, ‘Stay Closed or Lose Funding,’ Jewish Press (Oct. 14, 2020) ........................................ 6 vi Case 20-3572, Document 49-2, 10/26/2020, 2960631, Page7 of 21 Reuvain Borchardt, Jewish Leaders Say They Were ‘Stabbed in the Back’ by Cuomo, Hamodia (Oct. 12, 2020) ........................... 9, 10 U.S. coronavirus map: What do the trends mean for you?, Mayo Clinic ........................................................................................... 8 vii Case 20-3572, Document 49-2, 10/26/2020, 2960631, Page8 of 21 INTEREST OF THE AMICI Amicus Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a non-profit law firm dedicated to protecting the free exercise of all religious traditions.1 To that end, it has represented agnostics, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Santeros, Sikhs, and Zoroastrians, among others, in lawsuits across the country, including multiple merits cases at the United States Supreme Court. See, e.g., Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, 140 S. Ct. 2049 (2020); Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania, 140 S. Ct. 2367 (2020); Holt v. Hobbs, 574 U.S. 352 (2015); Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, 573 U.S. 682 (2014); Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. EEOC, 565 U.S. 171 (2012). Becket has also appeared frequently before this Court. See, e.g., Fratello v. Archdiocese of N.Y., 863 F.3d 190 (2d Cir. 2017) (merits counsel); Central Rabbinical Congress v. N.Y.C. Dep’t of Health & Mental Hygiene, 763 F.3d 183 (2d. Cir. 2014) (amicus). Amicus Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty is an incorporated group of rabbis, lawyers, and communal professionals who practice Judaism and are committed to defending religious liberty. JCRL has an 1 Appellants have consented to