On behalf of South Bay United Pentecostal Church, Thomas More Society and LiMandri & Jonna LLP sued California Governor Gavin Newsom and the County of San Diego for injunctive relief against their unconstitutional indoor worship ban.

‍

On May 11, 2020, our attorneys filed a request in federal court for the church to be open for worship during the COVID-19 pandemic. Judge Cynthia Bashant denied the request. On May 23, 2020, we filed an emergency request in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, where we lost again. As Christmas approached, California’s governor had completely banned indoor worship for 99.9% of the state. On Monday, December 21, just moments before the “Christmas Star” appeared after sunset over the Pacific Ocean, we were shocked to learn that two more churches were once again denied injunctive relief. These rulings directly contradicted binding U.S. Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit precedent.

‍

In one of the rulings, Judge Bashant classified “Music, film, and TV production” as essential services permitted to operate indoors while denying churches the same classification. On December 22, 2020, we filed another request for emergency injunctive relief, asking the Ninth Circuit to allow South Bay United Pentecostal Church to hold indoor Christmas worship services without fear or threat of repercussion. The court denied our request. We subsequently filed a request for injunctive relief in the United States Supreme Court.

‍

On Friday, February 5, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in our favor by granting an emergency injunction to prohibit the State of California from enforcing its totalitarian indoor worship ban.