Tyranny Reversed: California Judge Slaps Down Newsom Over Religious-Worship Shutdownshttps://hotair.com/archives/ed-morrissey/2020/12/11/tyranny-reversed-california-judge-slaps-newsom-religious-worship-shutdowns/Just how huge a precedent will the recent Supreme Court decision in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn turn out to be? We can take one measure from a California court late yesterday in Father Trevor Burfitt v Gavin Newsom. In a stinging rebuke to Gov. Newsom, Judge Gregory Pulskamp imposed an injunction against enforcement of California’s planned COVID-19 restrictions. Using Brooklyn as a guide, Pulskamp ripped California’s arbitrary decision to shut down houses of worship while allowing commercial businesses to remain open.
Any such limitation on an explicit and textual constitutional right requires a strict scrutiny standard, Pulskamp ruled and cited Brooklyn for support. But Pulskamp wonders whether the restrictions even pass a smell test. In fact, Newsom’s order for a blanket ban on worship services was even harsher than Andrew Cuomo’s orders that prompted the Brooklyn decision, Pulskamp notes:
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In other words, this (disparate treatment of religious houses) shows a demonstrable hostility to religious expression, which is on its face unconstitutional — and was at the time of South Bay United, for that matter. The Supreme Court chose at that time to defer to governors but finally drew a line in the sand with Brooklyn. And now that judges have seen the line drawn, they can clearly and justly deal with abusive and arbitrary examples of tyrannical rule-by-whim, such as Newsom’s order in California.
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It’s important to note that this does not spell the end of the case in Burfitt. This just enjoins California from enforcing its current restrictions while the case continues. ...
That the State of California is enjoined from enforcing
Goobernor Noisome's restrictions has at least two implications: the trial judge believes Father Trevor Burfitt has a substantial case and possibly even is likely to prevail; there are multiple similar cases that, if not directly affected, will be affected by the Brooklyn decision and this court's application thereof.
