A California judge on Friday granted a temporary restraining order against a church defying Gov. Gavin Newsom’s coronavirus orders and forbade its members from holding large services until the court delivers a full decision at the end of the month.
The church, Godspeak Calvary Chapel, was sued this week by Ventura, a town near Los Angeles, for not following Newsom’s July worship restrictions. The church’s pastor, Rob McCoy, has been an outspoken critic of church shutdowns since April, at one time accusing Newsom of “draconian” excess.
Calling the issue a “very important, deeply fundamental constitutional issue,” Ventura County Judge Matthew Guasco said that the public health arguments of Ventura appeal to him more than the First Amendment arguments of the church. Citing South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom, a similar case brought before the Supreme Court in May, Guasco said that he agrees with the court’s decision that there should be a “balance between individual liberty and the government’s police power to protect the exercise of individual liberty if it threatens the public welfare and health.”
“The Constitution is not a suicide pact,” Guasco said. “The exercise of individual liberties has to be consistent with public health, otherwise the one would cancel out the other.”
Guasco added that the county was right in asking for the restraining order on the church since it could easily demonstrate the threat its members pose to public health.
“On a scale of 1 to 10 of the most immediate irreparable harm possible, this is a 10,” he said. “It doesn’t get much more immediate or irreparable than the threat that a lot of people are going to spread a contagious and deadly disease.”
Several churches have sued Newsom since he announced new coronavirus restrictions on worship, which include bans on singing and indoor services.
