Illinois Covid-19 Crowd Limits With Religious Exemption Upheld

An order issued by the governor of Illinois aimed at containing the spread of Covid-19 gives preferential treatment for the exercise of religion, but that doesn’t mean it violates the First Amendment, the Seventh Circuit ruled Thursday.

The state’s Republican Party challenged the order that limits crowd sizes to 50 people except for religious gatherings, which have no cap on the number of participants. The party argued that the order was an effort to prohibit free expression based on the content of the speech.

In rejecting that argument, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit pointed out that ...