CALIFORNIA – In a partial win for California churches, the Supreme Court has ruled that the state of California can no longer completely ban indoor worship, but can still disallow chanting and singing.
On Friday, February 5, 2021, the Court ruled on two cases, South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom and Harvest Rock Church v. Newsom.
BREAKING: Supreme Court Rules California Can’t Enforce Indoor Church Service Ban | CBN News https://t.co/XjJ00t0NXf via @CBNNews
— CBN News (@CBNNews) February 6, 2021
Both churches sued California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, asking that indoor religious worship, forbidden throughout most of the state, be treated the same as activities in indoor public spaces such as retail outlets, hair salons and Hollywood soundstages.
Becket Law argued on behalf of Harvest Rock that it is unconstitutional that:
“in California, non-essential retail, big-box, and department stores can open their doors to hundreds of mingling shoppers seeking retail therapy, but a church cannot open its doors to a worship service where attendees are properly social distanced and comply with masking requirements.”
The Supreme Court’s decision was split 6-3, with the majority deciding that California must allow indoor worship but could limit capacity to 25%. In addition, the Court upheld a ban on singing and chanting.
In the Court’s opinion, Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch wrote that they would have blocked all of Newsom’s restrictions on worship.
Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh both agreed with opening churches, but upheld restrictions on singing and chanting.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that:
“federal courts owe significant deference to politically accountable officials with the ‘background, competence, and expertise to assess public health.’”
However, he added:
“the State’s present determination—that the maximum number of adherents who can safely worship in the most cavernous cathedral is zero—appears to reflect not expertise or discretion, but instead insufficient appreciation or consideration of the interests at stake.”
He went on to say:
“Deference, though broad, has its limits.”
Justice Neil Gorsuch, joined by Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, noted that “California has openly imposed more stringent regulations on religious institutions than on many businesses,” while retail establishments and other places of business were allowed to be open.
They noted that those other establishments still allow crowds to gather and persons to have close contact with each other.
Supreme Court lifts some COVID-19 restrictions on California church services https://t.co/eejRfDw4ug pic.twitter.com/AF2a8pXWUA
— The Hill (@thehill) February 6, 2021
Gorsuch added:
“When a State so obviously targets religion for differential treatment, our job becomes that much clearer….
“Of course we are not scientists, but neither may we abandon the field when government officials with experts in tow seek to infringe a constitutionally protected liberty.”
After pointing out several inconsistencies between California’s rules for other public places versus rules for churches, Gorsuch also argued that Newsom’s ban on singing was inconsistent with allowing the entertainment industry to proceed with its activities.
Noting that California’s government has been “moving the goalposts” for almost a year, Gorsuch added:
“As this crisis enters its second year— and hovers over a second Lent, a second Passover, and a second Ramadan—it is too late for the State to defend extreme measures with claims of temporary exigency, if it ever could.
“Drafting narrowly tailored regulations can be difficult. But if Hollywood may host a studio audience or film a singing competition while not a single soul may enter California’s churches, synagogues, and mosques, something has gone seriously awry.”
As expected, liberal Justices Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor offered a dissenting opinion.
In their view, the Supreme Court’s decision “displace[d] the judgements of experts about how to respond to a raging pandemic.”
They went on to argue:
“The [Supreme Court] majority does so even though the State’s policies treat worship just as favorably as secular activities (including political assemblies) that, according to medical evidence, pose the same risk of COVID transmission.
“Under the Court’s injunction, the State must instead treat worship services like secular activities that pose a much lesser danger.”
The justices continued:
“That mandate defies our caselaw, exceeds our judicial role, and risks worsening the pandemic.”
Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, which represented the churches in their lawsuit, said:
“California had no right to declare itself a religion-free zone.”
He added:
“When every other state in the country has figured out a way to both allow worship and protect the public health, maybe you are doing it wrong.
“We are glad this extreme violation of our first freedom has finally come to an end.”
This Supreme Court ruling comes just a few months after the Court’s landmark 5-4 decision in November, 2020. This decision struck down state rules in New York that limited in-person attendance at worship services.
At the ACLJ, we have filed a major lawsuit on behalf of churches that could quickly head to the Supreme Court. Banning singing in California churches is an unconstitutional abuse of power. Take action with us today by signing our petition.https://t.co/gns18uPFE7
— ACLJ (@ACLJ) February 2, 2021
As for the issue of singing in church, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) reports that it is proceeding with a lawsuit to address those restrictions in California.
Over the past year of COVID restrictions, several California pastors have openly defied Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom’s draconian edicts against church attendance. Here is our report from September, 2020, on one of them.
Gov. Newsom threatens pastor with jail. Pastor: “I’m open for a jail ministry… bring it on.”
SUN VALLEY, CA – Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in California is pushing back against orders coming down from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office threatening to lock him up in jail if he holds in-person worship services.
Pastor MacArthur’s message to the governor is:
“Bring it on.”
John MacArthur not worried about threats of jail for holding church services: “I’m open for a jail ministry … bring it on” https://t.co/DYr6pzGkue pic.twitter.com/vnZm9qyoSW
— Disrn (@DisrnNews) September 16, 2020
During an appearance on Fox News, the pastor explained some of the threats that have been levied against him for the services that he’s been holding at the church:
“We received a letter with a threat that we could be fined or I could go to jail for a maximum of six months.”
Keep in mind, we’ve seen thousands of people gathered to protest who haven’t been arrested for simply gathering.
We’ve witnessed Nancy Pelosi fall victim to the infamous “set up” of defying lockdown and mask orders in California – but Heaven forbid (pun intended) people congregate to worship.
Pastor MacArthur continued from there, in an almost elated tone, that he’s not remotely concerned about these kinds of threats:
“Of course, my biblical hero apart from the Lord Jesus Christ is the apostle Paul, and when he went into a town, he didn’t ask what the hotel was like, he asked what the jail was like because he knew that’s where he was gonna spend his time. So I don’t mind being a little apostolic if they want to tuck me in a jail.”
In the pastor’s mind, if he happens to get booked into jail for simply holding church services, he’ll see it as an opportunity to share The Word in a space in which he’s yet to share it:
“I’m open for a jail ministry. I’ve done a lot of other ministries and haven’t had the opportunity to do that one, so bring it on.”
Grace Community Church has been entangled in a back and forth with the state of California during the pandemic. This has resulted in a cease-and-desist letter being sent to the church about holding in-person services and the church responding with a lawsuit.
Furthermore, Pastor MacArthur has been somewhat trolling officials within the California state government who have threatened the church with $1,000 daily fines and possible jail terms for its senior leadership.
In a video shared on Twitter on August 9th, the pastor addresses his congregation and says the following to those who gathered:
“Good morning, everyone. I’m so happy to welcome you to the Grace Community Church peaceful protest.”
John MacArthur: “Welcome to our ‘peaceful protest’”: pic.twitter.com/knjNkwZ5x6
— Phil Johnson (@Phil_Johnson_) August 9, 2020
In the video, the crowd erupts in applause when Pastor MacArthur describes the service as such.
You’ve got to admit that the manner in which Pastor MacArthur referred to one service as a “peaceful protest” and later observed the possibility of being jailed as an opportunity to spread a positive message shows just how clever and optimistic the man is.
Americans have been hounded literally for months about how the riots are OK because the protests are “mostly peaceful” – they even came out with some strange report talking about how the protests were “93 percent” peaceful.
Thus, protests have been overwhelmingly unchecked and not stopped because people have the right to peacefully assemble. Well, in the United States, as of September 17th, there have been 6.65 million Covid-19 diagnoses and 197,000 deaths collectively. That’s an over 97 percent survival rate – but the church can’t have their peaceful assemblies.
And don’t even get me started on the number of Covid-19 deaths that presented comorbidities. Spoiler alert – it’s the overwhelming majority that hosted medical conditions contributing to death.
Aside from the numbers related to Covid-19, which the pastor mentioned on Fox News as well, he also explained that there are perceived Constitutional violations in play with Gov. Newsom’s lockdown orders.
“I am so thankful that President @realDonaldTrump has told me personally he supports the church as essential.”
– Pastor @johnmacarthur on @IngrahamAngle#ChurchIsEssential pic.twitter.com/9PnyUd5oYQ
— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) September 16, 2020
“We believe that the governor, the county, the city, and the health department are going against the Constitution. And just to remove one obvious question, the rate of Covid in California is 1/100 of 1%. So 1/100 of 1% of 40 million people have Covid and that eliminates freedom to worship from the entire state.”
Pastor MacArthur says that when it comes to religious liberties and the right to assemble for services, he noted that “the Constitution supports us.” And to be honest, this author supports their rights to assemble in church as well.
