Federal Judge upholds California ban on church service gatherings

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) -California Gov. Newsom’s executive order banning in-person church services during the COVID-19 pandemic has been upheld by a federal judge, the Washington Examiner reports. The Cross Culture Christian Center near Sacramento had filed a lawsuit stating the governor’s lockdown order violated their First Amendment right to free assembly.

In Tuesday’s ruling that the executive order was issued in the public interest, Judge John Mendez wrote: “During public health crises, new considerations come to bear, and government officials must ask whether even fundamental rights must give way to a deeper need to control the spread of infectious disease and protect the lives of society’s most vulnerable.”

Although he was warned it was a violation of state orders, Cross Culture Pastor Jonathan Duncan continued to hold in-person services after the issuance of the executive order in March. During an interview with KTXL-TV, Duncan said: “We’re going to meet as often as we can meet, and we do believe that this right is protected by the 1st Amendment and should be considered essential.” Duncan added: “We are not a church that takes the virus lightly nor do we have in our minds to act reckless. We believe that precautions need to be taken.”

After police entered their premises during a service with about 30 congregants, the church eventually filed suit.
Mendez ordered the Cross Culture Center to stop holding church service gatherings; he rejected the plaintiff’s argument that churches were being treated unequally because grocery stores were allowed to stay open. Mendez said people went to stores to buy things, while church-goers attended services specifically to assemble.

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