In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court upheld Nevada's limits on congregation sizes, denying a request by a Nevada church for permission to have larger gatherings that are currently permitted in the state's casinos, restaurants and other businesses.

The court is functioning less as a judicial body than as a relief valve for legislative dysfunction and executive overreach.

Justice Clarence Thomas’s majority opinion is a decisive win for religious rights advocates, but it may not be the last chapter in this story.

It is up to individual Catholics to make the case to church leaders.

The editors of America have weighed in on these cases in previous editorials, which offer some helpful perspective.

"As faith leaders from a diverse range of traditions, we call on President Trump and Attorney General Barr to stop the scheduled federal executions," the group said in the statement released July 7.