Religious freedom advocates applauded a federal appeals court decision in December that blocked enforcement of Nevada’s pandemic-related restrictions because they treat various secular events and businesses “significantly better” than worship gatherings.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals — generally considered the most liberal of the federal appellate courts — unanimously granted a preliminary injunction against the state for attendance limits on houses of worship that are stricter than those imposed on such secular entities as casinos, bowling alleys, retail stores and restaurants. In returning the case to a federal judge, the panel said Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley, the church that brought the lawsuit, had shown it likely would succeed in its claim that Gov. Steve Sisolak’s limit of 50 people for corporate worship violates its First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion.

The Ninth Circuit Court “got this case right,” said Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. “Government cannot single out and treat churches differently from other gatherings simply because they are houses of worship,” Moore said. “That is out of step with the First Amendment and our long American history of free exercise.”

The Ninth Circuit action is the latest in a series of decisions in response to challenges by churches and other religious bodies of state and local directives intended to protect public health. Some of those restrictions have treated churches unequally in comparison to many businesses, the ERLC and other religious freedom advocates have pointed out.