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PRESS RELEASE | A NORTHERN CALIFORNIA STATE JUDGE ORDERS CALVARY CHAPEL SAN JOSE TO PAY $1.2 MILLION FOR VIOLATING COVID-19 ORDERS
Press Release
Advocates for Faith & Freedom
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, April 13, 2023
CONTACT: nicole velasco @
media@faith-freedom.COM
For Immediate Release 04/13/2023, Murrieta, California – On Wednesday evening, April 12, 2023, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Evette D. Pennypacker ordered Calvary Chapel San Jose to pay $1.2 million for violating COVID-19 orders during the pandemic. The church has challenged the constitutionality of the fines and COVID-19 orders in federal court, which is currently on appeal at the Ninth Circuit.
“We believe Judge Pennypacker’s decision to enforce $1.2 million in fines violates the United States Constitution,” says Mariah Gondeiro, Vice President of Advocates for Faith and Freedom. “We have already prevailed twice on appeal in this case, and we believe we will successfully overturn these illegal fines.”
“This case will not likely end until the U.S. Supreme Court rebukes Santa Clara County again,” says Robert Tyler, President of Advocates for Faith and Freedom. “The opinion is very deficient in its analysis and provides for an excellent appeal.”
The church plans to immediately appeal Judge Pennypacker’s decision to the Sixth Appellate District of California.
Teaching the Truth
We are representing a teacher, Jessica Tapia, who was fired after refusing to endorse the woke policies of a Southern California school district. The district enforced directives requiring she hide students’ gender reassignment treatment from their parents, allow transgender students to use their preferred locker room and restroom, refrain from sharing her faith and beliefs on social media, and abstain from sharing her biblical beliefs with students when approached with faith-based questions.
Listen below to hear how Jessica’s story is already affecting change as new legislation is being introduced to protect parental rights and children.
Calvary Chapel San Jose Recap and Update
Last week we issued an urgent prayer request over our Calvary Chapel San Jose Case. While the battle is still waging, we wanted to give you a brief recap of events.
Pastor Mike McClure
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CALVARY CHAPEL SAN JOSE CASE – Pastor Mike McClure & Calvary Chapel San Jose sued Santa Clara County, Dr. Sara Cody, James Williams & the Board of Supervisors for implementing & enforcing unconstitutional COVID-19 public health orders. SC County was the first county to issue a shelter-in-place order & has implemented the most aggressive fine system. The county seeks to collect $2.87 million in COVID-19 fines from the church, even though the Supreme Court has admonished California five times and held their orders as applied to churches were violative of the 1st Amendment. So far, we have successfully overturned the contempt charges and over $200,000 in fines and sanctions levied against the church and Pastor McClure, but we still have court proceedings ongoing in relation to the $2.87 million in fines SC County seeks to collect from the church.
GEOTRACKING: SC County paid SafeGraph to track Calvary’s visitors through geo-tracking. SC County did not acquire a warrant before surveilling Calvary, nor did they apply any apparent limitations on their surveillance efforts. They placed a geofence around the church property for over a year, allowing the county to track congregants anywhere, including the bathroom, nursery, sanctuary and prayer rooms. The county’s conduct is unprecedented.
LATEST: On March 10, 2023, the federal judge dismissed Calvary’s complaint against SC County. The judge chose to exercise her discretion and abstain from issuing a ruling and punted the case to the state court. Next, the state court issued a tentative ruling in favor of the county. Calvary plans to appeal both decisions as well as file a separate lawsuit challenging the county’s unlawful surveillance of church congregants.
TRANSLATION: The Federal Court sheepishly kicked it back to State Court, even though the Judge previously told the county “this is not the hill you want to die on.” In its tentative ruling, the State Court completely disregarded material evidence & suggested it would rule in favor of the county & dismiss the church’s constitutional defenses. We are appealing the federal decision & pray the State Court follows the Constitution with the time she has left to change her unconstitutional ruling.
We need your prayer and support over this case. This case will set the precedent for religious freedom everywhere.