For months we have been praying about California’s onerous Covid restrictions and the unfair treatment of churches. Join us in thanking God for this answered prayer. Scroll down to see what California pastor Rob McCoy has to say to YOU about your prayers for his church and other churches like his that have fought the unconstitutional restrictions.

Attorneys with the Thomas More Society recently secured settlements in two major cases: South Bay United Pentecostal Church, et al. v. Newsom, et al. and Father Trevor Burfitt v. Newsom, et al. In both cases, the State of California agreed to enter into permanent injunctions that prohibit the State from ever again imposing discriminatory restrictions on all houses of worship statewide. In addition, the State of California agreed to pay $2,150,000 in “prevailing party” attorneys’ fees to settle both cases ($1,600,000 in South Bay and $550,000 in Burfitt).

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Thomas More Society Special Counsel Charles LiMandri and Paul Jonna, partners at LiMandri & Jonna LLP, both expressed satisfaction with the resolutions. According to LiMandri, “The South Bay case represents an unprecedented three trips to the United States Supreme Court in a one-year period, which resulted in a landmark decision that opened up the churches in California for 40 million people. The permanent injunctions in these cases uphold and protect one of the most cherished principles of our republic: The Free Exercise of Religion.” . . .

“The injunction in Burfitt was the first of its kind in the country, anticipating what the Supreme Court would later hold definitively, that houses of worship must receive the same treatment as the most favored secular comparators. If favored businesses are allowed 100% occupancy during a pandemic, so must churches be allowed,” said Ferrara.

Meanwhile, Thomas More Society special counsel attorneys LiMandri, Jonna, and Jenna Ellis are continuing to prosecute and defend cases on behalf of Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church. Later this month, the Los Angeles Superior Court will hear the Thomas More Society’s motion to dissolve an unconstitutional preliminary injunction entered against the church. After prevailing in that action, LiMandri and Jonna will seek recovery of the significant attorneys’ fees incurred in that action as well—along with a “multiplier” of their fees for vindicating fundamental constitutional rights. . . .

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(Excerpt from LifeSite News. )