Freedom of Worship in an Age of Pandemic: A Discussion of 'Agudath Israel of America v. Cuomo'

On November 16, 2020, two Orthodox Jewish Synagogues in New York sought emergency relief in the Supreme Court of the United States from an executive order issued by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo containing COVID-19-related restrictions on worship.  Characterizing the order’s restrictions as a “religious gerrymander,” the petitioners argued that the Governor’s approach violated the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause.  The Court would grant the synagogue’s request just nine days later in a decision that split the Court 5-4.  Misha Tseytlin, partner at Troutman Pepper, head of the firm’s national appellate and Supreme Court practice, and counsel for the petitioners in Agudath Israel, will join us to talk about the case.

Mr. Tseytlin is a graduate of Amherst College and Georgetown University Law Center.  Following law school, Mr. Tseytlin clerked for, among others, the Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.  Mr. Tseytlin’s experience includes victories before the Supreme Court in Gill v. Whitford, one of the most significant redistricting cases in decades, and Murr v. Wisconsin, a high-stakes regulatory takings case.