Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, appointed by Ronald Reagan, partly agreed and partly disagreed with the majority decision, writing that “it is not the fault of the church in this situation”.
O’Scannlain wrote this while he “[does] do not object to the panel’s determination that more time is needed to assess the merits of the “church motion,” we must not deprive the church of any hope of relief during the period of time that our court takes to do so. ”
“Even if we needed more time to consider the pending motion in its entirety,” wrote O’Scannlain, “we should have given the church at least the temporary relief it needs to ensure that its members can freely exercise their fundamental right to practice their Christian religion acts on one of the most sacred Christian days of the year. ”
The Harvest Rock Church’s emergency injunction came after California District Court judge Jesus Bernal denied the church’s request for the second time on Monday.
Earlier this month, the United States Supreme Court ordered Bernal to reconsider his initial August ruling against the Church following the recent decision by judges that dissolved New York’s limits to personal worship.
The Supreme Court has given states less discretion in enforcing coronavirus restrictions at public meetings since Judge Amy Coney Barrett replaced Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg in October.