Victory in Religious Liberty/2nd Amendment Case Before U.S. Court of Appeals

Recently, in Spencer v. Nigrelli (consolidated with three other cases), the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit preliminarily held unconstitutional three provisions of New York’s gun law, the Concealed Carry Improvement Act (CCIA), which severely restricted houses of worship from protecting their congregants. The ruling is especially significant because the Second Circuit has a reputation for being one of the most anti-Second Amendment courts in the country.

As we explained here, one provision of the CCIA banned churches, synagogues, and other houses of worship from allowing gun permit holders to bring weapons into “sensitive locations,” including, explicitly, “places of worship or religious observation.” Houses of worship were given no say in the matter; they could not allow their congregants to help provide security and protection.

Several plaintiffs, including Pastor Spencer and his church, filed suit, alleging that the ban violated both the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment and the Second Amendment. The Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s preliminary injunction in favor of Pastor Spencer, giving churches and synagogues a major victory. The ACLJ, representing its members and the Synagogue Security Council of North America (SSCNA), had filed an amicus brief with the Second Circuit in support of Pastor Spencer’s religious liberty claims.

In its decision preliminarily enjoining enforcement of the “houses of worship” provision as to Pastor Spencer, a panel of three Second Circuit judges agreed completely with the ACLJ’s argument that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2021 decisions in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo and Tandon v. Newsom controlled the case. Those two cases, which arose during the COVID pandemic, held that governments cannot impose greater restrictions on religious entities than on secular organizations. The Second Circuit court explained that the “houses of worship” provision of the CCIA violated the Free Exercise Clause because it:

allows the owners of many forms of private property, including many types of retail businesses open to the public, to decide for themselves whether to allow firearms on the premises while denying the same autonomy to places of worship. By adopting a law that applies differently as to places of worship (alongside the other enumerated sensitive places) than to most other privately owned businesses and properties, the CCIA is, on its face, neither neutral nor generally applicable.

While the Second Circuit’s decision is a major victory for Pastor Spencer and his church, the case is not yet over. New York could ask the full Second Circuit (all active judges) to rehear the case en banc. New York or other parties involved in the case could also ask the Supreme Court to grant review.

Once the Second Circuit issues final mandates in the consolidated appeals, the case may result in a victory for a Jewish congregation and two Jewish believers whom the ACLJ represents in another case pending before the Second Circuit, Goldstein v. Hochul. The religious liberty issues are identical in the Goldstein case, and the Second Circuit stayed the appeal pending a final decision in Spencer v. Nigrelli.

The ACLJ has taken on this matter in the interests of all Americans of faith. Our representation of SSCNA, however, has particular significance. Since we took on this case, the threat of harm to American Jews and Jewish places of worship has risen to staggering new heights in the aftermath of the atrocities launched against Israel on October 7. Thousands of antisemitic incidents have been reported in the past few weeks.

More than any time in our nation’s history, people of faith must be able to defend themselves. Whatever happens in both Spencer and Goldstein, the ACLJ will remain engaged – with your support – in the fight to protect Americans of faith who seek the ability to protect themselves and their families at worship.