DOJ Warns San Francisco Officials They Can’t Limit Church To One Congregant At A Timehttps://hillfaith.blog/2020/09/29/doj-warns-san-francisco-officials-they-cant-limit-church-to-one-congregant-at-a-time/DOJ Warns San Francisco Officials They Can’t Limit Church To One Congregant At A TimeDepartment of Justice officials have warned San Francisco authorities that their decree limiting church attendance in the “City by the Bay†to one person at a time is unconstitutional and a violation of every San Franciscan’s right to freedom of religious practice.
In a September 25 letter to Mayor London Breed, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Eric Drieband and U.S. Attorney for Northern California David Anderson wrote:
“San Francisco’s treatment of places of worship raises serious concerns about religious freedom. In particular, the limitation of indoor worship to one congregant without regard to the size of the place of worship is draconian, out of step with the treatment afforded other similar indoor activities in San Francisco, wholly at odds with this Nation’s traditional understanding of religious liberty, and may violate the First Amendment to the Constitution.
If you've heard of Cathedral Hill in SF, it's so named because of the cathedral on the hill (the Chinese consulate is a block or two away). From what I've read, its seating capacity is 3000, with capacity for another 500 people who are standing. I've been in the building, and those numbers are credible to me. yet in that seating capacity and huge volume of air, it is limited to one congregant. That isn't merely absurd, it's clear bigotry.
