'The state does not get to dictate the method of worship to the faithful,' attorney Harmeet Dhillon said.
A group of pastors, along with the Center for American Liberty, have filed a lawsuit against California Governor Gavin Newsom and other local officials, arguing that the state's"stay-at-home" order to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic violates the U.S. Constitution by"criminalizing the free exercise of religion."
Newsom, a Democrat, issued the"stay-at-home" order on March 19. The order banned public events and gatherings, as was the case in many other states who followed suit with their own"stay-at-home" or"shelter-in-place" orders. Some states allowed exemptions for religious services, citing constitutional separations of church and state, but Newsom's order did not.
"Criminalizing individual participation at a church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or other house of worship clearly violates the First Amendment," Harmeet Dhillon, chief executive officer for the conservative Center for American Liberty and a Republican Party official,"The state and localities have granted sweeping exceptions to the shutdown orders for favored businesses and professions, while specifically targeting people of faith and decreeing to religious institutions that it is...
California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks in front of the hospital ship USNS Mercy that arrived into the Port of Los Angeles on Friday, March 27 to provide relief for Southland hospitals overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemicDhillon, an attorney who leads the Dhillon Law Group, argued that"if a Californian is able to go to Costco or the local marijuana shop or liquor store and buy goods in a responsible, socially distanced manner, then he or she must be allowed to practice their faith using...
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