Two US judges rule against churches fighting indoor worship bans

Two US judges rule against churches fighting indoor worship bans

Two judges of the U.S. Eastern District of California threw out preliminary injunction motions where churches challenged Gov. Gavin Newsom's limits on indoor worship services. One did it with a few words from the bench, the other with a 26-page detailed ruling.

"Plaintiffs argue the state's prohibition on indoor singing violates their First Amendment rights to free exercise and speech, their 14th Amendment right to equal protection, and the establishment clause," wrote Chief Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on Wednesday. "As explained below, the court finds plaintiffs have not met their burden of showing they are likely to succeed on the merits of any claim, or raised serious questions going to the merits, and so the court does not reach the other prongs of the preliminary injunction test."

Mueller then laid out the reasons she was ruling the various limits imposed by Newsom's pandemic orders were applied neutrally without placing a special burden on religious services. She wrote that the plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed in their litigation because of a growing body of law supporting the rights of state governments to limit constitutional rights during pandemics.

"Given the 9th Circuit's decisions in South Bay and Harvest Rock, and the Supreme Court's decision with respect to indoor singing and chanting in South Bay, plaintiffs cannot succeed on their free exercise claim here. The record before this court is consistent with these controlling decisions," she wrote in Calvary Chapel of Ukiah v. Newsom, 2:20-cv-01431-KJM-DMC (E.D. Cal., filed July 15, 2020).

U.S. District Court Judge John A. Mendez cited similar reasons, albeit more briefly, when he ruled from the bench in a case challenging Newsom's limits on in-person religious gatherings. Mendez said he would not take the time to write out a decision because of the district's heavy caseload. Cross Culture Christian Center v. Newsom, 2:20-cv-00832-JAM-CKD (E.D. Cal., filed April 22, 2020).

-- Malcolm Maclachlan