The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is weighing a pair of motions for preliminary injunctions blocking Gov. Andrew Cuomo's executive order restricting attendance at worship services in areas with COVID-19 clusters, after attorneys representing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and a group of Orthodox Jewish synagogues each appealed rulings in Cuomo's favor out of the Eastern District of New York.

Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders partner Avi Schick, who is representing the synagogues, argued Tuesday that the order should be subject to strict scrutiny because the "red zones," where restrictions are most severe, are "gerrymandered" to focus on Orthodox Jewish communities. He cited a series of public statements in which Cuomo discussed rising coronavirus cases in Orthodox Jewish communities, arguing that the order was intended to discriminate even though no religious group was named in the document itself.