A judge rebuffed Thursday efforts to Los Angeles County to hold Grace Community Church in contempt and sanction it over its defiance of novel coronavirus restrictions.
Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff ruled in the church’s favor after Los Angeles County sought more than $20,000 in penalties over Pastor John MacArthur’s decision to hold in-person services Sunday at its 3,500-seat sanctuary in defiance of county COVID-19 restrictions.
Thomas More Society special counsel Jenna Ellis cheered the ruling, saying that the judge “correctly found there is no court order prohibiting Grace Community Church from holding indoor services.”
“LA County continues to harass and target Pastor MacArthur,” she said in a statement. “Having failed to get a court order to shut down the church they have sought three times, they’re going to try again to hauling us back into court.”
She said the county plans to seek again a temporary restraining order against the non-denominational megachurch, and that a hearing is scheduled for Monday.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles County said it was gratified that the judge upheld the validity of its health order, “including the prohibition on indoor church services.”
SEE ALSO: Los Angeles County seeks to punish church for indoor reopening with $20,000 in sanctions
“We are grateful that the court recognized the vital importance of our Health Officer Orders in protecting the public health, and continue to seek an opportunity to work with Grace Community Church to bring its services into compliance,” said the county in a press release.
The statement concluded: “This is a matter of life and death for our most vulnerable residents as we continue to battle this pandemic.”
The contempt filing came as the latest salvo in the legal back-and-forth between the county and the Sun Valley church as the county Department of Public Health seeks to enforce its public-health orders.
UPDATE: The Los Angeles County Superior Court said this morning there is no court order prohibiting Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church from holding indoor worship services.
— Grace Church (@GraceComChurch) August 20, 2020
Church is essential! 🙏 https://t.co/qQar6eIRij
The church responded last week by suing California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the county, accusing them of discriminating against houses of worship by holding them to strict reopening standards while allowing protesters free rein.
Mr. MacArthur conducted indoor services as planned a day after the California Court of Appeal blocked the lower court’s decision, which would have allowed the church to offer indoor services with social distancing and mask-wearing in place.
The county issued a statement Wednesday citing the more than 5,000 deaths from COVID-19 in Los Angeles and calling the contempt filing a “last resort.”
“Grace Church cannot thumb its nose at the Court when decisions don’t go its way,” the county said in its filing, prompting Ms. Ellis to declare that “that’s precisely what LA County is now doing themselves.”
“We will simply continue to defend our client’s constitutionally protected rights because church is essential,” she said.
The church began holding indoor services July 26, prompting the county to issue a cease-and-desist order warning of fines and potential jail time.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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