Key Cases
COVID-19
Blanket Limitation on Private Home Gatherings to 3
Households Overturned
In Tandon v. Newsom, 141 S.Ct. 1294 (2021) (per
curiam), the U.S. Supreme Court enjoined pending appeal
California's imposition of a blanket limitation during the
COVID-19 pandemic on private gatherings of all kinds, religious and
secular, in homes to three households. However, California
permitted gatherings at other types of locations such as hair
salons, retail stores, private suites at sporting events and
concerts and indoor restaurants. According to the per curiam,
"[c]omparability is concerned with the risks various
activities pose, not the reasons why people gather";
therefore, these activities are comparable. Government regulations
trigger strict scrutiny under the Free Exercise Clause whenever
they treat comparable secular activity more favorably than
religious exercise. "Narrow tailoring requires the government
to show that measures less restrictive of the
