On May 17, Liberty Counsel, the organization representing Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena and Harvest International Ministry in their lawsuit against Governor Newsom, announced a full and final victory in the lawsuit, with Newsom Liberty Counsel will pay $1.35 million ($1,350,000) in court costs to Liberty Counsel.
Liberty Counsel stated, “We obtained a permanent statewide injunction permanently enjoining Governor Newsom (and the State of California) from issuing a religious restraining order against the church unless the restraint also applies to everyone else.” This means that churches will no longer be shut down, singing will no longer be prohibited, muzzling will no longer be required, and churches will once again be free churches and act under God’s guidance, not under the government’s dictates.
A difficult litigation journey
On May 10, Liberty Counsel and the California Attorney General’s Office jointly filed a full and final Settlement (Settlement) with the District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which cited several Supreme Court opinions applying the analogy between church activities and non-religious activity gatherings, including grocery stores, warehouses, large stores, transportation, infrastructure, telecommunications, and other essential services.
For more than a year, Liberty Counsel invested thousands of hours in aggressive litigation in multiple courts simultaneously, “We filed at least two motions for temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions in the trial court; two appeals to the Ninth Circuit; three emergency injunction motions to the Ninth Circuit; and three emergency petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court. Initially, we seemed to lose each time.”
“We were ridiculed by judges, lawyers, the media, and even some misguided friends who thought the case couldn’t be won in California and wouldn’t work in the Ninth Circuit. But God orchestrated a miraculous turn of events, a miracle, and suddenly our ‘losses’ turned into one victory after another, culminating in this permanent injunction.”
“Governor Newsom let us spend thousands of hours to bring him to justice. Now he must send a check for $1.35 million to Liberty Counsel to repay us for what we have done to defend the church in California and across America. God has turned Governor Newsom from the church’s number one enemy to its number one ‘donor’ as only God can do.”
Liberty Counsel says it will continue to pursue this goal in many cases in Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Virginia and elsewhere so that this year-long constitutional violation against the church never happens again.
Event Review
From March 19 to May 25, 2020, Newsom ordered the elimination of church services; from May 26 to July 12, churches are allowed to hold 25 percent but no more than 100 people; from July 13, 2020 to April 8, 2021, more than 90 percent of churches cannot worship; and from April 9 to April 12, singing and chanting during home Bible studies are restricted.
Harvest Rock Church has been fighting Newsom’s ban since last summer, and in early August, Pastor ChéAhn received a letter from Pasadena Chief City Attorney Michael P. Dowd warning ChéAhn of the serious consequences of violating Newsom’s ban, with staff and anyone attending the church activities subject to up to one year in prison each and a daily fine of $1, 000 per day, and the church would be closed.
On April 9, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the restrictions on home Bible study and worship violate the First Amendment.
Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, said, “Newsom discriminated against churches while providing preferential treatment to many businesses and congregations, but under the settlement agreement, California can no longer impose discriminatory restrictions on churches and places of worship. We should all be grateful for Rev. Ann’s courage in overturning California’s tyranny and freeing every pastor and church in California.”
Rev. Cheyenne said, “This is an important day for the church in America! After nearly a year of fighting in our defense of religious freedom, it is good to see the discriminatory restrictions on California churches completely reversed and the lawsuit reached a permanent settlement in our favor. We are so grateful to Attorney Stauffer and the Liberty Counsel for their tireless support and steadfast determination, and we give all glory to God!”
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