A judge ruled Friday to have a church in California pay $1.2 million in fines—including interest—for defying COVID-19 rules during the pandemic by holding large religious services where attendees were not wearing masks.
Calvary Chapel in San Jose was dealt the fine, including 10 percent interest, on April 7 by Evette Pennypacker, a Superior Court of California judge in Santa Clara County, for having exhibited “egregious conduct” in flouting the mask-wearing rules of the county between November 2020 and June 2021.
Calvary Chapel was one among several large churches in California that ignored the state and local mask-wearing and social distancing rules at the time.
She rejected the church’s argument that the public health orders stopped it from exercising its religious freedom, or that the orders violated the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Mariah Gondeiro, an attorney for Calvary Chapel, told the San Jose Mercury News the church will appeal.
“We look forward to establishing more precedent on appeal that will have far greater implications for the future,” she wrote in a statement.
The county has been seeking millions of dollars in fines from the church after it ignored the public health orders. Calvary Chapel subsequently sued the county, saying the health orders violated its religious freedom. Various courts have ruled either in favor of the church or the county.
The church and its pastors were previously held in contempt of court and fined for violating limits on indoor public gatherings. But last year, a state appeals court reversed the decision, after it found that restrictions that had been imposed by the county on indoor worship services were stricter than for everyday activities such as going to grocery stores.
County Counsel James Williams issued a statement on the ruling on Wednesday. He asserted that the county’s response to the pandemic, which included imposing the public health orders and enforcing the orders against “entities that refused to follow the law,” had “saved thousands of lives.” He said the county is “gratified that the Court once again saw through Calvary’s unsupported claims and found them meritless.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The county has been seeking millions of dollars in fines from the church after it ignored the public health orders.
How much was Nancy Pelosi ordered to pay after she ignored the public health orders?
NOT a dime. Same with Newsome and all the other libtard politicians.
And what penalties are being imposed upon the states that misdirected COVID funds??
How about ZERO. Rules for thee, no rules for me.
Nothing. AS the dept of JUST US, will not pursue any.
I have a huge problem with this court ruling. These were mandates or rules, NOT LAW!!! Do I need to explain the difference?
Libtard judges care not.
And the science on wearing masks has proven time and again they are useless to stopping viruses from being transmitted! I f masks worked they would use them in labs where they make the deadly viruses !
Just follow the science. And Fauci’s or the figment’s “science”.
“Congress shall MAKE NO LAW respecting an established religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; Unless, of course you are Incorporated and have chosen to insert government into your business. In the “Land of the Free” the government is your “partner”, like it or not (kind of similiar to China). Incorporation of the Church, in my humble opinion, has the effect of making the Church suffer from a Dissociative Identity Disorder, characterized by the presence of two or more distinct or split identities or personality states that continually have power over the person’s behavior. So who has sanctioned an incorporated Church, State or God? I’d call it the “Judas Touch” because those churches have hung themselves. Who can worship two Kings simultaneously, I think you know the answer.
And just how much is Newscum and his buddies being fined for going out to dinner in Napa?
What part of “free exercise thereof” do Democrats not understand? (Hint: all of it.)
By the same principle under which churches are exempt from taxation, they also should be exempt from fines for not enforcing government mandates—especially mandates based on incomplete information presented by The Science™ in a manipulative and unconvincing way.
It’s understandable that Judge Pennypacker would focus on the reasonableness of a masking mandate, and elide the prohibition against singing. Whether masking or social distancing interfere with worship is arguable (and not up to the government’s discretion), but a prohibition against singing is egregious. Verb forms of “to sing” appear more than 100 times in the Bible, many of which are in the imperative form.