The coronavirus pandemic has resulted, among other things, in bans on public gatherings. I appreciate the need for these actions, but I question their constitutionality under the First Amendment. People too often forget that the amendment says the government can't abridge "the right of the people peaceably to assemble." The Supreme Court had blessed some exceptions in serious emergencies, but very very carefully. It is all too easy to use a "medical emergency" as a reason to ban gatherings that are repugnant, for unstated reasons, to the ruling authorities. Just look at how college administrations use the possibility of violence to ban gatherings.