Churches in California are celebrating their victory for religious freedom after a religious freedom legal group secured settlements requiring the state to pay $2.1 million in attorneys' fees to a Pentecostal church and a Catholic priest and to never again impose discriminatory restrictions on houses of worship.
California Governor Gavin Newsom promised to surrender his emergency powers to govern under a public health emergency by June 15. But yesterday during a vaccine lottery event, Newsom claimed it wasn’t the time to surrender any of his powers, claiming “uncertainty in the future” is reason enough for him to maintain his power to enforce mask mandates and business restrictions.
Alameda County, a Northern California county that includes the city of Oakland, has revised their COVID-19 data methodology, resulting in a massive 25% decrease in their reported COVID-19 deaths.
The state of California has agreed not to impose greater coronavirus restrictions on church gatherings than it does on retail establishments in a pair of settlements that provide more than $2 million in fees to lawyers who challenged the rules as a violation of religious freedom.
