Federal Court upholds California’s COVID-related restrictions on singing, chanting in religious worship

Via Religion Clause, a federal court in California declined to issue an injunction that would halt the state’s prohibition on singing and chanting during worship services after concluding the regulations did not treat religion differently than secular activities. The plaintiff churches argued their First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion was violated because social protests and entertainment productions were not subject to the same restrictions as houses of worship, but the court found that was not the case.