California is paying a steep price for the way it treated John McArthur’s Grace Community Church during the lockdown. The state and the city of Los Angeles have agreed to pay $800,000 in legal fees.
Jenna Ellis of the Thomas More Society, who helped represent the church, posted a statement on Twitter celebrating the settlement.
“We are very pleased to see Pastor MacArthur and Grace Community Church’s First Amendment protections fully vindicated in this case,” she said. “It has been a hard-fought battle to preserve religious liberty, and we hope that this result will encourage Californians and all Americans to continue to stand firm that church is essential.”
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors agreed to the settlement due in part to recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that overturned various public health measures in response to COVID-19 that specifically targeted houses of worship.
“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,” the county’s attorney said. “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.”
READ: John MacArthur on why he’s fighting California
Although Grace Community Church initially adhered to the state lockdown rules, they returned to in-person worships in defiance of the state’s ongoing public health orders.
“California has no such power to determine whether churches are ‘essential,’ as the federal and state constitutions have already done so,” according to the lawsuit. “Grace Community Church provides a spiritual service to the Los Angeles community that its congregation and its members rightly believe is essential, and the California State Constitution specifically protects their fundamental rights in this context.”
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
