When megachurch pastor John MacArthur refused to back down in the face of a court injunction, he was threatened with fines and even imprisonment. But he stuck to his position that the state’s COVID-19 capacity restrictions were interfering with the sovereign domain of the church.
“From an outsider's perspective, it would seem the case was not winnable but pastor MacArthur ended up the winner and getting paid his attorney's fees as well,” said Paul Jonna, a Rancho Santa Fe attorney. “So, it's kind of a monumental victory in that respect.”
As previously reported, MacArthur sued Gov. Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti last year in Los Angeles Superior Court for imposing capacity restrictions upon his Sun Valley congregation during the height of the pandemic.
“They went after him with a vengeance. Not only did they spend cumulatively between the county and state $800,000 to settle the case but the county alone hired a private law firm and paid them close to a million dollars as well,” Jonna told the Southern California Record. “So, they're just pouring taxpayer money into these frivolous cases that ultimately went nowhere. I think the message is clear that this was a political disaster for them.”
Last month, the county of Los Angeles and the state both agreed to settle the litigation with a combined $800,000 split equally between the two governmental entities.
“You can't just pick on people of faith,” Jonna said. “You can't treat churches differently or in a discriminatory fashion. If retailers are allowed to be open during a pandemic, then so can churches.”
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's religious restrictions on Nov. 25, 2020, issuing a temporary injunction that prevented him from enforcing limits of 10 and 25 worshipers after five justices decided that New York state’s virus risk classifications discriminated against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Agudath Israel of America.
“They’ve learned their lesson hopefully never to do this ever again to people of faith at least with respect to closing churches,” Jonna said. “They have no right to do that.”
The check will be paid to Thomas More Society and their attorneys who represented MacArthur and Grace Community Church (GCC).
“The money will not go to the church,” Jonna added. “It will go to the different lawyers involved. There was a big legal team. And so a lot of it will go to the Thomas More Society, which will probably use the money to fund similar cases in the future.”