Cross posted to the MRC's NewsBusters blog
On Thursday afternoon, CNN fill-in host Boris Sanchez cued up frequent guest Dr. Peter Hotez to trash the conservative majority on the Supreme Court for its ruling that New York cannot discriminate against houses of worship in its anti-pandemic restrictions, with the Baylor College of Medicine professor declaring that the ruling is "absolutely crazy" and "devalues human lives."
CNN Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic even managed to label the five-justice majority of the court as "far right" in her response to the ruling.
At 12:11 p.m., Sanchez brought up the issue and led his guest on in suggesting that the ruling was wrongheaded:
I want to pivot, sir, to the Supreme Court's ruling overnight. They blocked New York's coronavirus restrictions limiting attendance at churches, synagogues and other places of worship. I know that a lot of folks that I have discussed this with -- they're asking about religious freedom and how certain officials are appearing to prioritize commerce over worship. But correct me if I'm wrong -- there are specific reasons why going in a church, a synagogue or a mosque can be problematic compared to going to, say, a liquor store as Justice Gorsuch alluded to.
Dr. Hotez immediately tore into the decision:
Yeah, it's absolutely crazy. This is not about religious freedom -- this is not about civil liberties -- this is about all hands on deck to save lives over the next few months until we get everybody vaccinated. ... I can say with firmness and clarity that human life is not cheap. And that Supreme Court ruling did just that -- it devalues human lives and makes it really tough for our health care providers to provide the best care possible to lower mortality rates.
After Dr. Hotez called for keeping the restrictions a few more months until the vaccine is widely available, Sanchez jumped back in to agree with his guest's opposition to the ruling: "Yeah, and to that point, practically, there is a difference between sitting in the same area huddled with a group of -- a large group of people over a large amount of time versus walking into a space that's restricted for a very short amount of time and then walking out."
In the previous hour, as Biskupic was brought on to discuss the ruling, she put a "far right" label on more than half of the Supreme Court:
But it clearly is now a court controlled by a five-justice majority without Chief Justice John Roberts, which is a very new development for this court. Five justices on the far right saying, "No, the overriding free exercise concerns are what's important here, and we're not going to defer to local officials, and it's time to stop what the majority believes is a nationwide trend against religious services."
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Transcript follows:
11:34 a.m. Eastern
JOAN BISCUPIC, CNN SUPREME COURT ANALYST: But it clearly is now a court controlled by a five-justice majority without Chief Justice John Roberts, which is a very new development for this court. Five justices on the far right saying, "No, the overriding free exercise concerns are what's important here, and we're not going to defer to local officials, and it's time to stop what the majority believes is a nationwide trend against religious services."
BORIS SANCHEZ: Now, Joan, I want to get your take on Justice Neil Gorsuch's concurring opinion. It may be unsafe to go to church, but it is fine to pick up a bottle of wine, shop for a new bike, or spend the afternoon exploring your distal points and meridians. He's not holding back there.
BISKUPIC: He's not and you could have picked several mocking lines from that multi-page concurrence there. In fact, when I was reading it this morning, I was like, wow. He said, you know, the constitution doesn't take a holiday. Why are local officials doing this? And two things, Boris, not only did he come out strongly saying that local officials are trying to impinge free exercise rights, he took out, after his colleagues. Enough so that chief justice Roberts in his dissenting opinion said I do not agree that the dissenters in this case are trying to cut loose the constitution at the time of covid. Chastising Neil Gorsuch for his done there.
(...)
CNN
CNN Newsroom
November 26, 2020
12:11 p.m. Eastern
BORIS SANCHEZ: I want to pivot, sir, to the Supreme Court's ruling overnight. They blocked New York's coronavirus restrictions limiting attendance at churches, synagogues and other places of worship. I know that a lot of folks that I have discussed this with -- they're asking about religious freedom and how certain officials are appearing to prioritize commerce over worship. But correct me if I'm wrong -- there are specific reasons why going in a church, a synagogue or a mosque can be problematic compared to going to, say, a liquor store as Justice Gorsuch alluded to.
Dr. PETER HOTEZ, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Yeah, it's absolutely crazy. This is not about religious freedom -- this is not about civil liberties -- this is about all hands on deck to save lives over the next few months until we get everybody vaccinated. You know, I'm not a constitutional scholar -- I'm a physician scientist -- but, you know, I can say with firmness and clarity that human life is not cheap. And that Supreme Court ruling did just that -- it devalues human lives and makes it really tough for our health care providers to provide the best care possible to lower mortality rates. This is not a time to resort to ideologies or -- this is time to stay safer and for American pragmatism to focus on saving lives over a very defined period of time. We're not talking about perpetuity. Let's just do this for the next few months in order to keep everybody and get everyone to the other side.
SANCHEZ: Yeah, and to that point, practically, there is a difference between sitting in the same area huddled with a group of -- a large group of people over a large amount of time versus walking into a space that's restricted for a very short amount of time and then walking out.
Dr. HOTEZ: I mean, to compare going to a liquor store -- I don't know what kind of liquor store judge Gorsuch is going to -- but, you know, the last time I was in one, there weren't hundreds of people hugging or singing or chanting or talking to each other without face masks. This is what we need to halt -- any kind of large indoor gatherings, again, for that very specific defined period.
. Curtis Houck
