Governor Gavin Newsom suddenly abandoned his 10-month old COVID-19 singing ban on churches last Friday, in response to a series of court losses before the U.S. Supreme Court. The governor had already abandoned mandating church capacity limits several weeks ago after justices rebuked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and…
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Religious leaders and Constitutional Attorneys are coming to the capitol tomorrow to show their support for the Religion is Essential Act, a bill to codify into law decisions the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly made to protect religious practice in California. The last of five court rulings was handed down…
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SACRAMENTO – A Bay Area assemblyman wants to ban from service police officers and police officer candidates who are members of hate groups or have used hate speech in the past, even in “a private discussion forum” online. Yet the definition of a “hate group” and “hate speech” used by…
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If California politicians can trust shoppers to social distance while packed into big box stores, then churches should be trusted to do the same. That’s what Senator Brian Jones (R-Escondido) argued as he introduced the Religion is Essential Act (SB 397) yesterday, a bill to require the state and local…
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Vice President Joe Biden has announced his intent to nominate California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). But Becerra raises deep concerns among religious conservatives fighting to protect their First Amendment free speech and religious liberty rights. They are leary of Becerra…
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Last Friday, the US Supreme Court handed churches and synagogues in New York a stunning victory over their governor’s discriminatory COVID-19 restrictions on indoor services. The 5-4 majority declared “even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten.” Despite the victory, it was unclear how the New…
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This afternoon Governor Newsom decided to change his own COVID-19 rules and put 94% of California’s population under his most harsh virus restrictions starting tomorrow. This means restaurants, gyms, movie theaters, and churches can no longer meet indoors. As a result of the emergency orders, 41 of California’s 58 counties…
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Several California based Christian legal organizations say Governor Newsom’s new ban on church singing isn’t enforceable. The new “guideline” document released July 1, says social distancing isn’t going to protect congregants from COVID-19 in church services if they still sing or chant. “Places of worship must therefore, discontinue singing and…
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For weeks churches, Republican legislators, President Trump, the US Department of Justice, and religious liberty law firms, confronted Governor Newsom over his bans on in-person church services calling them discriminatory and unconstitutional. Last Monday, a week after Trump demanded governors let churches meet, and a week before 1200 California churches…
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At a White House press conference this morning, President Donald Trump officially designated churches as “essential places that provide essential services.” Trump’s remarks today came just days after the U.S. Department of Justice sent a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom rebuking him for his discriminatory policies toward the state’s…
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