Whether the Governor's favoring of secular over religious gatherings violates the Free Exercise Clause

QUESTIONS PRESENTED Attempting to combat the spread of COVID-19, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak issued a series of executive orders that restrict personal liberties. The subject of this petition are the Governor’s orders limiting church gatherings. For example, Directive 021 allowed large groups to assemble in close quarters for unlimited time-periods at casinos, restaurants, indoor amusements parks, bowling alleys, water parks, pools, arcades, and more, subject only to a limit. In contrast, the directive limited gatherings at places of worship to no more than 50 people, whatever their facilities’ size or the precautions they take. So if a casino and a church both had capacity for 2,000 persons, the casino could entertain 1,000 gambling patrons while the church could only host 50 of its faithful for worship. Directive 033 has, for now, superseded Directive 021 but still treats places of worship less well than their secular counterparts. Such unequal treatment requires strict scrutiny, yet the Governor did not try to offer a compelling justification for the unequal treatment. The Governor’s disparate treatment of churches compared to secular venues violates this Court’s First Amendment precedents and frames two issues of immense jurisprudential significance that will impact this case and many like it across the country: 1. Whether the Governor’s favoring of secular over religious gatherings violates the Free Exercise Clause. 2. Whether the Governor’s favoring of secular over religious gatherings violates the Free Speech and Assembly Clauses.