Posted on 08/31/2021 3:08:01 PM PDT by george76
The settlement with Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, which also includes another $400,000 from the state — avoids further litigation over the matter at a time when the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority has signaled that rights to religious practice indoors outweigh the interests of the state to compel places of worship to adhere to public health orders..
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Aug. 31, approved a $400,000 settlement with a San Fernando Valley church that had defied the county’s health order through the thick of the pandemic.
The settlement with Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, which also includes another $400,000 from the state — avoids further litigation over the matter at a time when the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority has signaled that rights to religious practice indoors outweigh the interests of the state to compel places of worship to adhere to public health orders.
In February, the high court struck down the all-out ban on indoor services after a series of California churches brought a case. But it allowed authorities to leave in place capacity limits and bans on singing and chanting.
In that context, the county’s legal battle with the church has found its way to a settlement, as houses of worship have gone back to business in the wake of the lifting of many mandates on June 15.
“After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that some public health safety measures could not apply to houses of worship, resolving this litigation is the responsible and appropriate thing to do,” read a statement from the county’s counsel. “From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Los Angeles County has been committed to protecting the health and safety of its residents. We are grateful to the county’s faith organizations for their continued partnership to keep their congregants and the entire community safe and protected from COVID-19.”
It was a long and winding road to get to the legal resolution, tapping into many of the issues that have polarized American society since the pandemic took hold early in 2020.
The church, led by Pastor John MacArthur, continually defied county health orders over the past year. The church held indoor services despite the county’s ban on such gatherings. Church officials refused to enforce mask-wearing and social-distancing requirements for its large congregation — members of which were generally supportive of the church’s pushback.
By December, when the county finally modified its health order, allowing houses of worship to once again host services inside their buildings. Even then, the ruling was seen as vindication after months of defying the previous county order, which aligned with the state’s guidelines, allowing only outdoor services, with strict physical distancing.
“It’s a victory,” thankful congregant Leon Felipe said at the time. “We need to worship. We need to be together, with our brothers and sisters. We need that. It’s not just another thing to do. It’s worship.”
Up to that point, the county repeatedly cited the church, which prompted county officials to seek an injunction requiring the church to adhere to health regulations, saying they were essential to control the spread of COVID-19. In response, the church, meanwhile, sued the state and the county, claiming the COVID rules amounted to constitutional violations of religious freedom.
At the core of the legal battle, which played out in the Los Angeles Superior Court room of Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff, was the question over whether there a “compelling” governmental interest to prohibit the indoor services. The county argued that the order, issued by County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis, did not target religion, but rather took aim at the spread of the coronavirus — an illness that has leveled off in recent weeks precisely because of the stepped-up order, attorneys said.
“Religion doesn’t trump public health and safety, especially under these circumstance,” said Amnon Siegel, the attorney for the county during a hearing in September, digging back to historical cases, state and federal, in which courts sided with public health orders on the need for vaccinations. Statutes, the county argued, give local health authorities to act, in part with authority granted by the county’s Board of Supervisors.
But the church contended that it was following safety precautions, including requiring masks and social distancing. In fact, argued attorney Jenna Ellis, the exercise of the statutory power was too broad. Ellis at the time was also senior legal advisor for President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.
“If public safety always outweighed liberty, then we’d never have liberty,” she told the court at the time, an argument that paralleled with the argument of church attorney Charles LiMandri. He argued that the health orders were untenable opinion and policy, which unfairly chipped away at the ability to exercise the most fundamental right at a time when the risk of harm was leveling off.
The virus itself would only get worse, with COVID-19 caseloads and deaths hitting their highest levels days in the months after that hearing.
Beckloff would ultimately issue a preliminary injunction sought by the county, saying the “potential consequences of community spread of COVID-19 and concomitant risk of death to members of the community, associated and unassociated with the church, outweighs the harm that flows from the restriction on indoor worship caused by the (Los Angeles County) health order.”
But the church essentially ignored the injunction, continuing to hold indoor services and violating other health mandates. That led county attorneys to seek a contempt ruling against the church.
Church attorneys fought back, filing a motion to have the injunction lifted and the contempt request dismissed, citing two U.S. Supreme Court decisions. In one, a Catholic diocese and a group of Jewish synagogues successfully challenged New York’s restrictions on churches. The high court later struck down the indoor worship ban while allowing caps on attendance and a ban on singing, according to the church’s attorneys.
In a letter to supporters of the John MacArthur Charitable Trust, obtained by The Los Angeles Times, MacArthur called the settlement a “monumental victory” and said “there is no circumstance that can cause the church to close. The church is not only a building but is the bride of Christ and exists to proclaim the truth.”
The county’s $400,000 payment will come out of the public health budget.
Amen!!
The people making the decisions for the county should have to pay part of the settlement.
Finally, tax payer dollars going to God’s purpose!
Settled for the cost of attorney fees.
The county was fine with riots and taverns, just not churches.
This is the way.
When they tell you you can’t worship the Lord, you tell them no. When they give you tickets or arrest you, you ignore them and worship anyway.
The city of Burbank put up a fence around Tinhorn Flats Saloon & Grill , the oldest bar in town, at 2623 W. Magnolia Blvd, which defied political covid mandates..
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3942495/posts
“Religion doesn’t trump public health and safety,” said Amnon Siegel.
Fool. Religion trumps public health, safety, economics, politics and baseball. FYI. There’s a thing called the US Constitution that is worth reading before pretending to be a lawyer.
MacArthur is a weak theologian but a strong defender of religion. I wish some Catholic leaders in Los Angeles had 5% of MacArthur’s courage.
Nice to see LA County FINALLY helping to pay the expenses of one of their churches. Who says that Democrats are stingy!
John MacArthur for the win.
A leader when we needed one.
BINGO !!
Falconspeed
Does “weak theologian” mean that you agree with him?
Or does it mean you don’t like him?
Asking for a friend.
Eventually the Supreme Court was going to rule against LA.
LA was very lucky the fine was only 400k.
It could have easily been much more that 100M.
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