Illustration by Michelle Budge, Deseret Information
A California church that met in-person in the course of the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic will not need to pay tons of of hundreds of dollars in fines after a state appeals court docket dominated Monday that the gathering guidelines it defied had violated spiritual freedom rights, in line with The Related Press.
The ruling in favor of Calvary Chapel San Jose cited a February 2021 choice from the U.S. Supreme Court docket, which mentioned that California officers, together with Gov. Gavin Newsom, unlawfully subjected homes of worship to stricter guidelines than different public gathering areas.
“For the reason that arrival of COVID-19, California has brazenly imposed extra stringent rules on spiritual establishments than on many companies,” wrote Justice Neil Gorsuch in that ruling. “When a state so clearly targets faith for differential remedy, our job turns into that a lot clearer.”
That 2021 choice was one in all a number of in favor of church buildings and religion leaders that got here after Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the Supreme Court docket. Earlier than that time, Chief Justice John Roberts had fashioned a majority together with his liberal colleagues to uphold quite a lot of gathering guidelines affecting church buildings, because the Deseret Information reported final yr.
Though Calvary Chapel is now off the hook for gathering-related fines, its authorized battle remains to be ongoing. County officers have mentioned they consider the church remains to be on the hook for greater than $2 million in fines associated to guidelines that weren’t referenced within the Supreme Court docket’s choice.
“We are going to proceed to carry Calvary accountable for placing our group’s well being and security in danger,” the county mentioned in a press release, in line with the AP.
Regardless of the county’s vow to maintain the lawsuit going, the Rev. Mike McClure, pastor of Calvary Chapel, celebrated this week’s ruling in a press release launched Monday.
“I thank God that our actions have been justified by the court docket,” he mentioned. “We're right here to assist the hurting, save the misplaced and worship God with out governmental intrusion.”