//The fight over reopening churches reaches the Supreme Court

The fight over reopening churches reaches the Supreme Court

Believers wearing face masks attend the first mass publicly given at the Notre-Dame de la Garde Basilica in Marseille, France. | Clement Mahoudeau/AFP via Getty Images

This is likely to end badly for public health.

A California church asked the Supreme Court over Memorial Day weekend for an exemption to the state’s stay-at-home order, claiming that the order violates the Constitution when applied to places of worship.

If granted, even a temporary emergency order would have sweeping national implications: It would be a clear signal that the Supreme Court, with its record of sympathy for religious conservatives, intends to expand “religious liberty” rights, even potentially at the expense of public health.

It is very likely that the Court will take up this case, South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom — or at least one like it from another place of worship that