Appeals Court Denies Harvest Rock Church Request for Emergency Relief

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit refused Wednesday to grant Harvest Rock Church an emergency injunction against the enforcement of California’s ban on indoor gatherings in regions where the coronavirus pandemic is surging.

In a 2-1 split, the justices denied the church immediate relief while they consider its request to overturn an earlier decision by U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal to uphold Gov. Gavin Newsom’s COVID-10 orders, Politico reported. Judge Bernal ruled Monday the state’s restrictions are constitutional and do not discriminate against houses of worship.

Lawyers for Harvest Rock Church appealed Bernal’s ruling to the 9th Circuit and requested the injunction immediately.

Under current state regulations, church services and gatherings may be held outdoors statewide. Indoor gatherings are limited to those areas experiencing fewer new cases of COVID-19, according to a tiered system. Much of the state, especially Southern California, is heavily restricted as it is dealing with an increase in the number coronavirus cases that is stretching hospitals and health care workers to their outermost limits.

“Californians may still worship, attend services, pray, and otherwise exercise their religious freedoms. They just may not do so in ways that significantly increase the likelihood of transmission of a virus which has claimed more than [300,000] American lives in less than one year,” Judge Bernal wrote in his Dec. 21 decision. “The Constitution is not a suicide pact. The First Amendment may not be used to make it one.”

Lawyers for Harvest Rock Church filed a petition seeking the restraining order earlier this month, and oral arguments were held Dec. 18.

Two days before Judge Bernal issued his ruling, Los Angeles County officials revised restrictions there allowing for limited indoor services on the conditions that worshippers from different households maintain a minimum distance of 6 feet between them and face coverings or masks covering the nose and mouth be worn at all times. Harvest Rock Church is in Pasadena in Los Angeles County.

Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministries filed a lawsuit against Newsom and the state of California in July, alleging the ban on indoor gatherings violated their First and 14th amendment rights to free speech and equal protection under the law, respectively.

According to published reports, the church continued holding indoor services, drawing a cease-and-desist letter from Pasadena officials in August that threatened fines if the gatherings continued.

So far, Harvest Rock Church has not complied, Pasadena Now reported this week.

Harvest Rock’s lawyers appealed an earlier rejection from Judge Bernal all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which on Dec. 3 ordered the lower court judge to reconsider issuing the church a temporary injunction shielding it from the state’s gathering ban.

Judge Bernal stuck to his decision denying the injunction. Now the 9th Circuit, despite also refusing an emergency injunction, will continue considering Harvest Rock’s appeal.

Have your church’s services been limited or otherwise effected by local or state government restrictions to manage the coronavirus pandemic? Tell us about it in the comment section below.

Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry are represented by Niccolai Cocis of the Law Office of Nicolai Cocis; and by Mathew D. Staver, Horatio G. Mihet, Roger K. Gannam and Daniel J. Schmid of the Liberty Counsel.

The Harvest Rock Church Lawsuit is Harvest Rock Church Inc., et al. v. Gavin Newsom, et al., Case No. 2:20-cv-06414-JGB-KK, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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