also was justified in order to avoid violating the Establishment Clause. Certiorari was granted in the case on January 14, 2022. Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley v. Sisolak (9th Cir. 2020). Smith, writing for a unanimous panel, reversed the district court’s denial of Calvary Chapel’s motion to enjoin the enforcement of Nevada’s COVID-19 restrictions on religious worship services. Relying on the recent Supreme Court case, Roman Catholic Diocese v. Cuomo (2020), Smith concluded that Nevada’s disparate treatment of religious worship services triggered strict scrutiny review, and although slowing the spread of COVID-19 was a compelling interest, the restrictions were not narrowly tailored to serve that interest. Tandon v. Newsom (9th Cir. 2021). Smith was a member of a panel hearing a case regarding California's limitation on gatherings to three households due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The plaintiffs, who wished to hold in-person prayer meetings, argued that the California regulation violated their 1st amendment rights to free practice of religion. Smith was a member of the 2-1 majority ruling against the plaintiffs. The Supreme Court reversed 10 days later. Herring Networks v. Maddow (9th Cir. 2021). Smith dismissed a defamation lawsuit against Rachel Maddow. He ruled that Maddow's words that OAN “really literally is paid Russian propaganda" could not amount to defamation and that her speech is protected by the First Amendment. Second Amendment Smith, writing for a unanimous three-judge panel, upheld a conviction for the possession of a homemade machine gun. Rejecting the defendant's Second Amendment claim based on District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), Smith wrote that machine guns are "dangerous and unusual weapons" that are not "typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes," and that their possession is not protected by the Second Amendment. Fourth Amendment and police excessive force cases Smith, writing for the majority of a three-judge panel, concluded that a California law requiring police officers to collect DNA samples from adults arrested for felonies did not violate the Fourth Amendment. After the Ninth Circuit elected to rehear the case en banc, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Maryland v. King, 569 U.S. 435 (2013), that a Maryland law requiring the collection of DNA samples from arrestees charged with "serious crimes" was constitutional. Thereafter, a majority of the 11-judge en banc panel refused to bar implementation of the California law without deciding whether the statute might be unconstitutional as applied to at least