Court Rules Against Despotic California County Mandates

A gavel with books behind it.

Santa Clara County in California has lost a lawsuit against Calvary Chapel in San Jose. Back in 2020, California was one of the most aggressive states in its COVID restrictions. Both the state and several counties heavily fined houses of worship for COVID regulations.

Church Response

In response, houses of worship brought lawsuits. The suits claimed that the state and counties unfairly targeted houses of worship differently than malls, fitness centers, museums, and big box centers [1]. In May and June of 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the churches. Therefore, California is paying out millions of dollars in settlements after their discrimination.

San Jose

Nonetheless, Santa Clara County is defying the judge’s ruling. Although the High Court ruled in five separate cases against the state, this county is demanding that Calvary Chapel pay the fines for not shutting down and for allowing people to come to pray at the church. Both in 2020 and in 2021, the county fined the church. The county says that the church

violated health orders regardless of the U.S. Supremem Court’s ruling [2].

The county calls Calvary Chapel a commercial entity instead of a non-profit ministry. The county was warned in March by a federal judge that punishing the Calvary Chapel may not be constitutional.

Result

On Monday, August 15, 2022, California’s 6th District Court of Appeals ruled that the ban by Governor Newsome violated freedom of religion. Calvary Chapel does not have to pay $200,000 in fines.

Nevertheless, the unrelenting Santa Clara County is pursuing legal action against the church for face mask violations. The county says they will,

hold Calvary accountable for putting our community’s health and safety at risk [3].

Pastor McClure responded with,

Anyone that believes in the Constitution and our Constitution is under attack [4].

McClure says that the battle is spiritual and he calls on believers to stand with him.

 


Notes:

  1. ^https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2022/april/5-churches-get-six-figure-settlement-over-ca-covid-restrictions-1-county-still-trying-to-fine-calvary-chapel-2-8m (go back  ↩)
  2. ^https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2022/april/5-churches-get-six-figure-settlement-over-ca-covid-restrictions-1-county-still-trying-to-fine-calvary-chapel-2-8m (go back  ↩)
  3. ^https://www.kansascity.com/news/article264587221.html (go back  ↩)
  4. ^https://www.kansascity.com/news/article264587221.html (go back  ↩)

Leave a Reply

*