After defiantly continuing litigation despite losing in court against Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry, the state of California agreed to a $1.35 million settlement last week.
“When we had the December 3, 2020 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, it was pretty clear that California was on very shaky ground but California continued to insist and argue that what they were doing is constitutional and they would not comply,” said Matt Staver, who is counsel for Harvest Rock Church and founder of Liberty Counsel. “That required another whole litigation at the district court, another argument at the court of appeals, another trip to the United States Supreme Court and back to the court of appeals.”
During that time, counsel accumulated $1.35 million in legal fees and costs, which the state agreed to pay in order to finally end the litigation.
“In fact, we just got that check from the state of California and it is at the bank as we speak,” Staver told the Southern California Record. “It covers partial reimbursement of our attorney's fees and costs that we incurred. It just goes right back into Liberty Counsel because we represent our clients pro bono, at no cost.”
As previously reported in the Southern California Record, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) granted Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry’s petition for writ of certiorari, which asked that a ban on attending church services be lifted statewide, and ruled in favor of the Pasadena church.
But the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals failed to honor a U.S. Supreme Court order on striking down COVID-19 church prohibitions, according to Staver.
“From December, January, February, March, April until mid-May, the state continued to drag it out and would not comply with the ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court,” Staver said. “It was really crystal clear on Feb. 5 but even after Feb. 5, they continued to defend it.”
The SCOTUS Feb. 5 ruling, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, stated, “California worries that worship brings people together for too much time. Yet, California does not limit its citizens to running in and out of other establishments; no one is barred from lingering in shopping malls, salons, or bus terminals. Nor, yet again, has California explained why more narrowly tailored options, like a reasonable limit on the length of indoor religious gatherings, would fail to meet its concerns.”
Staver blames Gov. Gavin Newsom who is currently facing a recall vote on Sept. 14.
"The state of California is belligerent and they could really care less about the rule of law," he said. "The governor and the Attorney General's office thumbed their nose at the U.S. Supreme Court and continued to litigate and litigate and dig their hole deeper."
Gov. Newsom is the first governor in America to have a permanent injunction against him on behalf of houses of worship, according to a press release.
“California needs to remove him and it's unfortunate that it's not the governor himself having to pay this money out of his pocket,” Staver said. “It's coming from the state treasury. He has cost the state too much.”