A church in California is appealing a 2023 decision that said it must pay a $1.2 million fine for defying the state’s restrictive COVID-era mandates.
Calvary Chapel San Jose was fined after refusing to follow the county’s mask mandates. The 2023 order found that the county’s rules were “unobtrusive.”
“It should appear clear to all—regardless of religious affiliation—that wearing a mask while worshiping one’s god and communing with other congregants is a simple, unobtrusive, giving way to protect others while still exercising your right to religious freedom,” the court said. “Unfortunately, Defendants repeatedly refused to model, much less, enforce this gesture. Instead, they repeatedly flouted their refusal to comply with the Public Health Orders and urged others to do so ‘who cares what the cost,’ including death.”
After moving through several other courts, the 6th District Court of Appeal ruled on April 15 that it is “undisputed that Calvary Chapel intentionally and repeatedly failed to comply with any of the public health orders requiring face coverings to be worn during its indoor church services and other indoor activities.”
“Calvary Chapel was aware that some of its congregants had contracted COVID-19 and its school had sustained a serious outbreak, and that the County issued the public health orders requiring face coverings in certain circumstances as part of the County’s effort to slow the spread of COVID-19,” the court wrote. “We therefore determine that the undisputed facts show that Calvary Chapel’s level of culpability due to violating the public health orders requiring face coverings is high, and therefore the fines in the amount of $1,228,700 do not violate the excessive fines clause of the Eighth Amendment because the fines are not grossly disproportionate to Calvary Chapel’s culpability.”
A lawyer representing the church, Robert Tyler of Tyler Law LLP, told The Christian Post that the 2023 decision was “wrong both legally and factually.” Tyler noted that the church will “eventually appeal to the California Supreme Court and to the U.S. Supreme Court.”
He further explained that the fines imposed on the church are “based on a notice of violation that was void on its face.”
“We have a very strong case to take to the higher courts,” he added. “The notice of violation had unconstitutional conditions requiring the church to not only force congregants to wear face masks, but to also comply with a [temporary restraining order] issued in November 2020 that this same court of appeal already ruled was void and unconstitutional.”
