A church in California is countersuing Santa Clara County after the state imposed $2.8 million in fines on the place of worship for ignoring COVID-19 lockdown orders, according to The Free Press.
Calvary Chapel is in Silicon Valley and part of the larger Santa Clara County. It was the first county in the country to declare a shelter-in-place order in 2020, ordering citizens to remain in their homes unless engaging in an essential activity, like buying groceries or going to the hospital.
Calvary claims the orders violated worshippers’ First Amendment rights and violated the excessive fines clause of the Eighth Amendment.
According to the Church’s attorney, Mariah Gondeiro, the state’s masking orders were unconstitutional because they were not applied equally among all people.
CHURCH FIGHTS CONNECTICUT’S VACCINE MANDATE FOR STUDENTS: ‘THEY HAVE OVERSTEPPED THEIR AUTHORITY’
“They exempted essential government entities, as well as personal care [businesses] like hair and nail salons, and entertainment studios. There was no singing ban on entertainment studios, so they could continue their productions,” she said.
A spokesperson for Santa Clara County told The Free Press they “issued notices of violation to hundreds of entities that violated the orders, including card rooms, and virtually all of them came into compliance. It would not be appropriate to allow Calvary, an entity that continually violated the law and placed the community at severe risk… to receive more favorable treatment over all those (including hundreds of churches) that made the sacrifices to comply with the law.”
The county also argues that it had an imperative to protect the public from the health risks of a pandemic.
Calvary initially followed the orders in March, but two months later, Pastor Mike McClure gave a sermon.
“God doesn’t want us to isolate ourselves,” he told the crowd. “All of us need to be in the sanctuary. I don’t care what they say, I’m never again going to close the doors, ever.”
The…
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