In another victory for religious groups challenging pandemic restrictions on worship services, a federal court in California vacated a lower court’s October ruling that denied the South Bay United Pentecostal Church’s motion for relief from Governor Gavin Newsom’s order banning indoor services. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals remanded the case back to the lower court.
“The guidance from the Supreme Court makes it abundantly clear that California’s restrictions on houses of worship are blatantly unconstitutional,” said Paul Jonna, special counsel with the Chicago-based Thomas More Society, which is representing the church. “We are confident that South Bay will fully vindicate its fundamental constitutional rights in short order.”
In its one paragraph order, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cited two earlier cases: Harvest Rock Church, Inc. v. Newsom and Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo – both recent victories for religious groups challenging pandemic restrictions.
In the New York case decided two weeks ago, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) in a 5-4 ruling sided with legal arguments from the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Agudath Israel of America and put aside Gov. Cuomo's attendance limits imposed by color codes - no more than 10 worshippers permitted in red zones and no more than 25 in orange zones. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, whom the Senate confirmed just a month ago, voted with the majority.
In his opinion, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote: “It is time – past time – to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues, and mosques.”
In the Harvest Rock case, SCOTUS vacated lower court orders that were preventing worshipers from attending church, as well as chanting and singing during services due to the pandemic restrictions.
“The September 2 order of the United States District Court for the Central District of California is vacated, and the case is remanded to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit with instructions to remand to the District Court for further consideration in light of Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo,” the order says.
South Bay United Pentecostal Church is located in Chula Vista, the second largest city in the San Diego Metro area.