Apparently there's nothing like a little drama to spice up a pandemic. As part of an ongoing legal battle, the movie industry is accusing the State of New Jersey of religious bias after it allowed churches to reopen while refusing to grant the same exception to movie theaters. The accusers claim this ruling is unconstitutional, while the defendants assert otherwise.

In a lawsuit launched last month, several popular theaters sued New Jersey Governor Philip Murphy for alleged First Amendment violations. According to the lawsuit, the theaters in question had outlined plans for a safe reopening of their respective venues. This appeal to reopen was turned down by a federal judge. But the real issue according to the Plaintiffs in this case wasn't just them being turned down, it was the fact that New Jersey had allowed churches to open again even while denying that same permission to theaters.

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The legal reasons for this decision by New Jersey are relatively straightforward. According to New Jersey's Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, "the State is allowed to accord greater protection to religious activity." This prompted an accusation that New Jersey's law itself was unconstitutional. The movie theaters behind the accusation made the claim that theaters themselves are more likely to be safe during this crisis than churches, saying "unlike attendees at places of worship, movie theatre guests generally do not engage in conversation with those outside their immediate group, hold or shake hands, hug, sing, provide verbal responses, engage in responsive readings, sit, stand and kneel frequently, share prayer books, or engage in other forms of contact common in places of worship."

AMC theater cinema closed
AMC is one of the theaters hoping to open back up soon.

The lawsuit is ongoing, and it's likely that it may remain that way for a while. Religious exceptions and protections have long been a fixture in the laws of the United States, and the argument of "tradition" which is generally brought up to defend such institutions tends to rally considerable support. But it's hard not to see the logic behind the movie industry's assertions. Separation of Church and State is widely known as one of the country's building blocks, which would suggest that any exceptions given on religious grounds should also be given a secular equivalent. On this same line of thinking, it would stand to reason that movie theaters could be seen on the same level as churches, given how they both involve crowds of people together for a single purpose.

Of course, the opposite side could be seen as well. The U.S. Constitution protects religious people and organizations from being discriminated against based on their beliefs, and the argument could be made that church worship is a required special exception in that regard. Plus, from another perspective, one could assert that neither theaters nor churches should be open yet due to safety concerns. But either way, this debate doesn't seem to be drawing to a close any time soon.

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Source: The Hollywood Reporter