A church in North Hollywood, Calif., stands empty last month after services were canceled because of coronavirus restrictions.

A church in North Hollywood, Calif., stands empty last month after services were canceled because of coronavirus restrictions.

The Supreme Court has rejected a California church's attempt to overturn the state's coronavirus restrictions on in-person religious services.

"Although California's guidelines place restrictions on places of worship, those restrictions appear consistent with the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment," Roberts said, in an opinion that denied a request by the South Bay United Pentecostal Church for relief from the rules.

Unlike Roberts, who said church services were on par with sporting events, concerts and other large secular gatherings also limited by the order, Kavanaugh compared the church with secular spaces that were excepted from the restrictions, such as supermarkets.

The limits on church services have been a flashpoint in the national conversation surrounding the coronavirus, with President Trump wading into the controversy earlier this month to push for churches' right to reopen