A Santa Clara County choose has ordered a San Jose church that flouted COVID public well being guidelines on the top of the pandemic to pay $1.2 million in fines.
The ruling by Superior Courtroom Decide Evette D. Pennypacker is the most recent flip in a yearslong authorized battle between Calvary Chapel and Santa Clara County, which has been looking for hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines from the church after it flagrantly violated mask-wearing and social distancing guidelines throughout church gatherings.
In her ruling, Pennypacker decreased the nice to a particular interval between November 2020 and June 2021 when Calvary Chapel didn't comply with the county’s mask-wearing coverage — and added 10 % curiosity to the fines throughout that point interval.
“It’s the County’s job to maintain its residents and defend the general public well being,” stated County Counsel James Williams in an announcement concerning the ruling, which was signed on April 7. “The County’s response to the pandemic, together with the Well being Officer’s public well being orders and enforcement towards entities that refused to comply with the legislation, saved 1000's of lives and resulted in one of many lowest loss of life charges of any neighborhood in america. Calvary’s arguments have been rejected at virtually each flip. We're gratified that the Courtroom as soon as once more noticed by Calvary’s unsupported claims and located them meritless.”
Mariah Gondeiro, an lawyer for Calvary Chapel, stated the church will enchantment the choose’s determination. The case is prone to take years to resolve.
“We stay up for establishing extra precedent on enchantment that can have far higher implications for the longer term,” she wrote in an announcement.
Since 2020, the church sued the county in federal court docket, arguing that public well being orders had been violating its non secular freedoms. The county fought again by suing the church in state court docket, arguing they had been on the hook for $2.87 million in fines. Either side have seen authorized victories and setbacks.
In November 2020, a choose ordered a short lived restraining order towards the church for persevering with to collect in violation of Santa Clara County’s public well being guidelines.
However Calvary Chapel defied these orders, finally discovering themselves in contempt of court docket in December 2020 and January 2020.
The church efficiently averted paying almost 1 / 4 million dollars in contempt of court docket charges in August after an appeals court docket ruling. In its determination, the Sixth District Courtroom of Appeals cited a number of Supreme Courtroom rulings that had favored non secular freedoms over public well being necessities. That features a case in 2021 the place the excessive court docket stated California should enable for locations of worship to remain open at 25 % capability.
That ruling was affirmed in November after the California Supreme Courtroom determined to not take up a petition by the county to problem the appellate court docket determination.
In March, U.S. District Courtroom Decide Beth Labson Freeman granted the county’s movement to dismiss the federal case, a ruling that the church has appealed, in response to its lawyer.
That very same month, newly unearthed court docket paperwork revealed extraordinary measures taken by the county to show that Calvary Chapel was violating its public well being guidelines, together with utilizing cell phone knowledge to map out concentrations of its congregants and conducting stealthy surveillance efforts that elevate main civil liberties questions.