$1.2 Million: The Price A Church Is Paying For Choosing Faith Over Lockdowns

A San Jose, California church that broke its county lockdowns during the first months of the COVID-19 panic was ordered by a judge to pay an astonishing $1.2 million in fines on April 7th.

Superior Court Judge Evette D. Pennypacker, ordered the Calvary Chapel to pay the absurd fine for daring to hold service and refusing to require masks for congregants to attend from November 2020 thru June 2021, according to The Blaze.

Chapel leadership has been fighting the fines for over two years on First Amendment grounds.

The California jurist wrote, “It should appear clear to all — regardless of religious affiliation — that wearing a mask while worshiping one’s god and communing with other congregants is a simple, unobtrusive, giving way to protect others while still exercising your right to religious freedom.”

Pennypacker, an appointee of Democrat former Governor Jerry Brown previously worked as the Silicon Valley Partner for a progressive law firm, Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart & Sullivan, which earned the “2017 Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality” award from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

Per The Blaze, she accused the church of “egregious conduct” that “urged” the congregation to ignore the mandates with a “who cares what the cost” attitude.

According to the local outlet KTVU, Pennypacker wrote,

“Unfortunately, Defendants repeatedly refused to model, much less, enforce this gesture. Instead, they repeatedly flouted their refusal to comply with the Public Health Orders and urged others to do so ‘who cares what the cost,’ including death.”

UPDATE: @CalvarySanJose must pay $1.2M in fines – incl. interest – for violating @HealthySCC public-health orders by holding large, indoor unmasked services during #coronavirus pandemic, rules Judge Evette Pennypacker (pic) of @SCSCourt, citing church’s “egregious conduct” pic.twitter.com/2SNAQwoc0X

— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) April 13, 2023

Closing at the outset of the COVID panic, the church reopened in May 2020 with no limit on attendance as required under Santa Clara County’s draconian COVID mandates. The church’s seating capacity is 600, according to KTVU. The church leaders held service twice each Sunday with between 300-500 congregants along with regular prayer gatherings and conducted approximately 1,000 baptisms per court records.

ANTI-LOCKDOWN GOVERNORS DOMINATED 2022 MIDTERMS

The local outlet reports that a Federal Court rejected Calvary Church’s claim against the county and the case was stayed to allow the state courts to rule.

Mariah Gondeiro, an attorney for the church, commenting to Fox News Digital in August 2022 said, “The Supreme Court has been very clear over the last year that these orders violated the First Amendment.”

Adding, “The county, as well as the state of California, allowed a lot of essential businesses – or businesses that they deemed essential – to stay open, but not this church. And that’s why the appeals court ultimately overturned the fines.”

San Jose Mercury News reported that Gondeiro said the church intends to appeal the ruling:

“We look forward to establishing more precedent on appeal that will have far greater implications for the future.”

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