Author Topic: California pastor fighting $220K in fines for holding in-person worship services  (Read 592 times)

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Offline PeteS in CA

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California pastor fighting $220K in fines for holding in-person worship services

https://www.christianpost.com/news/california-pastor-fighting-220k-fines-for-in-person-services.html

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Pastor Mike McClure of Calvary Chapel San Jose faces a fine of at least $220,000 for holding indoor services since May 31, the day of Pentecost, thanks to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s restrictions on churches during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On behalf of Tyler’s church, the Southern California-based legal group Advocates for Faith and Freedom filed a lawsuit against the fines but Santa Clara County officials haven’t sought an injunction to stop Calvary Chapel’s meetings, according to The Epoch Times.

“It’s interesting that, if the county was so truly concerned about the health and safety of individuals, and believing that the science supports their fines, then they would not only be fining the church, but they would be going to court to seek an injunction against them to prevent them from meeting,” Tyler told the Times.

The Calvary Chapel pastor thinks county officials haven’t sought an injunction because they fear public opinion.

I heard about this situation via some family friends a month or three ago, but had not found any coverage of it (and I did look). IMO, Santa Clara is not seeking an injunction because it would face challenges from a constitutional direction and be asked for data showing Calvary or other Santa Clara County churches have been sources of outbreaks.
If, as anti-Covid-vaxxers claim, https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2021/robert-f-kennedy-jr-said-the-covid-19-vaccine-is-the-deadliest-vaccine-ever-made-thats-not-true/ , https://gospelnewsnetwork.org/2021/11/23/covid-shots-are-the-deadliest-vaccines-in-medical-history/ , The Vaccine is deadly, where in the US have Pfizer and Moderna hidden the millions of bodies of those who died of "vaccine injury"? Is reality a Big Pharma Shill?

Millions now living should have died. Anti-Covid-Vaxxer ghouls hardest hit.

Offline PeteS in CA

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An update:

California church challenges $350,000 in coronavirus fines

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/california-church-challenges-350-000-in-coronavirus-fines

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A California church on Monday went to court over $350,000 in fines it received for violating the state's coronavirus worship restrictions.

The church, Calvary Chapel in San Jose, argued that Gov. Gavin Newsom's orders, as well as local restrictions, place an undue burden on the free exercise of faith. The church has been meeting in-person since May and received a fine every time it violated orders limiting congregations to 100 people. The church's pastor, Mike McClure, said that no members of the church have tested positive for the coronavirus.

What I highlighted means both that no members have been infected at Calvary, nor have any Calvary member been infected elsewhere and put others at risk by attending.
If, as anti-Covid-vaxxers claim, https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2021/robert-f-kennedy-jr-said-the-covid-19-vaccine-is-the-deadliest-vaccine-ever-made-thats-not-true/ , https://gospelnewsnetwork.org/2021/11/23/covid-shots-are-the-deadliest-vaccines-in-medical-history/ , The Vaccine is deadly, where in the US have Pfizer and Moderna hidden the millions of bodies of those who died of "vaccine injury"? Is reality a Big Pharma Shill?

Millions now living should have died. Anti-Covid-Vaxxer ghouls hardest hit.

Offline PeteS in CA

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Brushing off Supreme Court rulings, Calif. county fines church as commercial enterprise

https://justthenews.com/nation/religion/tuebrushing-supreme-court-rulings-calif-county-fines-church-commercial-enterprise

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While the state of California and multiple counties continue to settle with churches after imposing unconstitutional restrictions against them, one county is expanding its efforts to pursue damages against a church, claiming their worship services are a public nuisance.

In its latest request, filed Aug. 31, Calvary Chapel has asked the court to dismiss the public nuisance claim along with the $2.8 million in fines levied against it, arguing the county has not provided any evidence to support the accusation that the church has caused any harm to the public.

The battle between the county and the church began in late spring 2020 after the state and county encouraged residents to protest the death of George Floyd without numerical limitations or public health restrictions, even as the same authorities imposed severe constraints on houses of worship.
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... Santa Clara County continued on its course. It requested that Calvary Chapel provide documentation of its revenue, loans, and budgets in order to determine, it claimed, "how much the church profited" during the state shutdown.

Six months earlier, in its October brief, the county — without any documentation received from the church — told the court that "while other religious institutions closed their doors as required by State and local orders, and continued to conduct religious services, outreach, and ministry in full compliance with those orders, Calvary advertised their non-compliance and saw their revenue increase by 50 percent."

As a nonprofit, the church receives donations, its attorneys pointed out. It's not a corporation, doesn't have a commercial license and doesn't earn profits.
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"After almost a year of litigation and numerous depositions, the County has not linked even one COVID-19 case to the church's indoor gatherings," Tyler & Bursch said in a press release.

If they aren't already defendants, this Calvary Chapel needs to amend its lawsuit to add every relevant county official personally as defendants, liable personally. This Calvary Chapel also need to sue in Federal court as a means to bypass a potentially prejudiced judge.
If, as anti-Covid-vaxxers claim, https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2021/robert-f-kennedy-jr-said-the-covid-19-vaccine-is-the-deadliest-vaccine-ever-made-thats-not-true/ , https://gospelnewsnetwork.org/2021/11/23/covid-shots-are-the-deadliest-vaccines-in-medical-history/ , The Vaccine is deadly, where in the US have Pfizer and Moderna hidden the millions of bodies of those who died of "vaccine injury"? Is reality a Big Pharma Shill?

Millions now living should have died. Anti-Covid-Vaxxer ghouls hardest hit.

Offline Hoodat

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If they aren't already defendants, this Calvary Chapel needs to amend its lawsuit to add every relevant county official personally as defendants, liable personally.

Word.  When politicians begin to personally suffer the consequences of their actions, only then will they choose a different course.
If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.

-Dwight Eisenhower-


"The [U.S.] Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals ... it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government ... it is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizen's protection against the government."

-Ayn Rand-