California County’s Petition to Collect Over $200,000 in Fines from Church That Defied COVID Restrictions DENIED

Some churches defied government directives to shut down or restrict services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For example, Santa Clara County ordered churches to remain closed, despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision that temporarily barred California from enforcing COVID-19 restrictions on indoor worship services. The court did allow the state to limit indoor capacity to 25 percent and continue to ban singing and chanting under Tier 1, pending a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The same county sought to collect money from Calvary Chapel San Jose for violating COVID-19 restrictions. But officials were disappointed.

The California Supreme Court last week denied the county’s petition asking that the church pay over $217,500 in fines, the Christian Post reported.

In a related case, the government ended up paying a church a “fine” of sorts. California pastor John MacArthur defied the state’s orders to stop indoor worship services at Grace Community Church during the pandemic. Los Angeles County issued a cease-and-desist order and threatened MacArthur with fines, jail, and contempt…. (Excerpt from Black Community News)