A federal judge on Monday rejected religious freedom and parental rights challenges to New York’s order closing overnight camps when it refused to grant a temporary order allowing Orthodox Jewish sleepaway camps in the Catskills to open this summer because of coronavirus concerns.
In a 43-page ruling, Chief Judge Glenn Suddaby of the Northern District of New York expressed sympathy for the religious beliefs of the affected families, but said he also “must acknowledge the extenuating circumstances of the COVID-19 virus and its impact throughout the world.”
“Although the State of New York has made progress in limiting the transmission of the virus in recent weeks, the recent resurgence of positive COVID-19 cases in several states raises concerns and is a painful reminder that the fight is far from over,” Suddaby wrote.
He also concluded that allowing overnight camps to open would bring children from more densely populated areas and other states to rural areas with low COVID-19 levels and limited hospital beds to handle any surge in virus cases.
The underlying lawsuit challenging Governor Andrew Cuomo’s state order is still pending, although it may soon be moot. Some overnight camps already have begun operating as day camps — busing campers back and forth each day, from as far away as Brooklyn.
Sullivan County has 169 active children’s camps of all types, and Ulster County has 74, according to the state Department of Health. As of last Monday, 37 Sullivan day camps had started and five more were about to do so. Ulster had four open day camps and was expected to have another two by this week, according to the Times Herald Record online.
The lawsuit against Gov. Cuomo was brought by the Association of Jewish Camp Operators, which represents 75 Orthodox camps attended by more than 40,000 children each summer, according to the court papers. The plaintiffs argued that the decision announced on June 12 to prohibit all overnight camps in New York would block an essential part of the religious upbringing of Orthodox children and violated religious rights.
But the judge noted that the plaintiffs did not provide enough information on how the ban affected Jews more than non-Jews.
“In this case, Defendant’s executive orders bar all overnight camps from opening during the summer of 2020. Instead of explaining why Jewish overnight camps are being treated differently than are secular overnight camps, Plaintiffs (with all due respect) confuse Defendant’s public comments seemingly showing support for the rights implicated by the mass protests over the death of George Floyd with Defendant’s alleged disregard for religion in failing to grant a similar exemption to Jewish overnight camps,” the decision reads.
“The impact on children is devastating,” said Rabbi Yeruchim Silber, Agudah Israel’s New York Government Relations Director. “Instead of looking forward to a summer of growth, filled with learning experiences and preparation for an upcoming school year, many children of our community will now be forced to endure a continuation of the long-lasting lockdowns imposed by the State Government.”
