Supreme Court wants district judge to reconsider church’s challenge to restrictions

By Craig Anderson

In the wake of its decision against New York's pandemic restrictions on attendance at religious services, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday granted a Pasadena church's petition challenging Gov. Gavin Newsom's bans and limits.

The church's application for injunctive relief was treated as a writ of certiorari by the court and granted, instructing the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to remand the case to U.S. District Judge Jesus G. Bernal of the Central District for further consideration.

Bernal's Sept. 2 order against the Christian organization, which runs 162 churches across the state, was vacated. Harvest Rock Church et al. v. Newsom, 20A94 (S. Ct, filed Dec. 3, 2020).

Liberty Counsel attorney Mathew D. Staver, who represents Harvest Rock, said Newsom's order created a "no-worship zone" that threatened church leaders with criminal prosecution if they held indoor services.

Staver said the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 decision against New York Gov. Mario Cuomo last week in cases involving houses of worship sets a precedent for California. Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, New York v. Cuomo, 20A87 (S. Ct, filed Nov. 25, 2020).

"We have better facts than New York," Staver said, "and no issue of mootness," which Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. cited as a reason against ruling for the churches and synagogues because New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo eliminated the toughest attendance limits.

California Deputy Attorney General Seth E. Goldstein, who did not return a message seeking comment Thursday, argued in court papers the limits on Harvest Rock Church are less restrictive than those struck down in the New York case.

"Here, as the court of appeals below recognized, California applies the same restrictions to indoor worship as to comparable secular activities involving large groups gathering in close proximity indoors for prolonged periods," Goldstein wrote.

Staver disagreed, saying Newsom's rules have permitted nonreligious gatherings and businesses to open while indoor religious services have been shut down.

"We're asking for, at a minimum, equal treatment," he said.

The Supreme Court's decision in favor of the New York churches and synagogues was a reversal of two decisions earlier in the year in favor of state limits on indoor attendance because of the COVID-19 virus.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, recently sworn in after her nomination by President Donald Trump and narrow U.S. Senate confirmation, was the swing vote. She replaced Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in September and had sided with the states, including California.

The rulings on indoor religious services come as the coronavirus is surging in California and across the country, with the deaths hitting a new daily high this week.

Newsom announced Thursday he would impose stay-at-home orders in regions when intensive care units reach 85% of capacity. No region has hit the number yet, but some may do so soon.

Staver expressed confidence that state orders would not affect religious services.

"His stay-at-home orders can't affect unconstitutional restrictions on places of worship," he said.

State and county health officials have expressed concern that religious services are more dangerous than other indoor gatherings because people arrive at the same time, sing and share the same air for an hour or more, then leave together.