Fresno church revels as U.S. Supreme Court halts indoor services ban
Fresno’s Cornerstone Church on Saturday celebrated a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that knocked down the state’s prohibition on indoor church services.
The decision has major implications for California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s efforts to enforce COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. It was at least a partial victory for churches who fought the order.
The court ruled 6-3 in favor of South Bay United Pentecostal Church, located in the San Diego area, which has been fighting in court for months for the right to hold indoor services. The church argued Newsom’s order violated the Constitution’s protection of the free exercise of religion.
Fresno’s Cornerstone has continued to hold church services since May 31. Those have been held safely, according to Jim Franklin, the senior pastor for the church that meets inside the old Wilson Theatre.
Franklin has argued that if big-box stores can operate safely, his church can hold services with safety protocols such as social distancing, masks and crowds limited to 25% of capacity. The 1,500-seat theater can hold about 400 safely, he said, and services are streamed live.
“Churches were singled out and put at the very end of the list of tiers,” Franklin said. “We believe churches are essential and should be at the very front.”
Indoor church services are prohibited under the state tiered system in regions designated to be under the most restrictive conditions, the purple tier. That includes Fresno County and the rest of the San Joaquin Valley, where the virus is said to be “widespread.”
The court said the state is allowed to limit attendance to 25% of capacity. The state also can prohibit singing and chanting during services, as some health experts believe they could more easily spread the coronavirus.
Franklin said his church has been singing since opening in the spring and he intends, after the court ruling, to continue to operate services in the same way.
“When people are sick, you don’t close the hospitals,” he said. “We’re seeing the emotional and spiritual stress has been unprecedented. This is the kind of thing the church can help with.”
Franklin said no cases of COVID-19 have been traced to his church gatherings. He said each church is different and can make its own decision on whether it can hold services safely.
“Hopefully this will show other churches that they are important,” he said.
Still, the decision — which reversed a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling two weeks ago — represents a setback for the governor at a time when COVID-19 deaths in California have topped 43,000.
Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena joined in the case after its request for an injunction was blocked by the 9th Circuit.
“This is a big decision,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “It’s giving us the contours of what’s acceptable for this Supreme Court in this clash between public health and religion.”
Both 9th Circuit appeals had left the door open for the high court to intervene.
The court’s majority, while splintered on specific limitations, found the argument compelling that churches had been singled out for unfair treatment.
“The state’s present determination — that the maximum number of adherents who can safely worship in the most cavernous cathedral is zero — appears to reflect not expertise or discretion, but instead insufficient appreciation or consideration of the interests at stake,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his concurring opinion.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch wrote they would have blocked all of the restrictions.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, in her first opinion on the bench, said that she would not have blocked the restrictions on singing and chanting based on the available evidence. Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined her opinion.
Justice Elena Kagan, in a dissent, wrote: “Justices of this court are not scientists. Nor do we know much about public health policy. Yet today the court displaces the judgments of experts about how to respond to a raging pandemic. The court orders California to weaken its restrictions on public gatherings by making a special exception for worship services.”
Kagan was joined in dissent by the court’s two other liberal justices: Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer.
Newsom had beaten back several legal challenges to his stay-at-home orders since the pandemic struck last March. But after the Supreme Court in November overturned a less-restrictive restriction on churches in New York state, legal experts said it was likely California’s COVID-19 church protocols were vulnerable.
The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 6, 2021 at 12:28 PM.
