Supreme Court orders review of church COVID rules

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The U.S. Supreme Court handed down an order Thursday that could affect the future of indoor religious services for churches in California.

Currently, churches in the state's purple tier counties are banned from holding indoor services due to the pandemic.

“The court issued a ruling in favor of a California church that essentially deemed the state’s guidelines unconstitutional," said Bob Tyler, an attorney with Tyler & Bursch, LLP. “The U.S. Supreme Court essentially through its decision overturned California’s COVID19 regulations has it relates to churches.”

The order came a week after the High Court split 5-4 in holding that New York could not enforce certain limits on attendance at churches and synagogues.

Tyler sees as a major win the High Court’s decision to order a federal court to reexamine California restrictions on indoor religious services. And while the restriction remains in place, for now, it effectively throws out the court’s decision in which it rejects a southern California church’s challenge to Governor Newsom’s ban.

Tyler believes will help his client, Calvary Chapel in San Jose.

The church is fighting Santa Clara County, which is levying hefty fines that Tyler says are now more than $600,000 for continuing to hold indoor services in defiance of the county’s health order put in place during the coronavirus pandemic.

“This church has said look; we know what our constitution says. We know that we have a free excise right to gather and meet,” Tyler said.

Earlier in the week, a judge granted Santa Clara County a preliminary injunction to stop gatherings at the church citing a public health threat. 

The pastor for Calvary Chapel is due back in a Santa Clara courtroom on Tuesday, Dec. 8th for a contempt hearing. 

His attorney, Bob Tyler, says the pastor could be fined, cited, or jailed, but believes the Supreme Court ruling will help that case.