He stood firm in the face of fines, threats of imprisonment, massive civil litigation, a contempt proceeding, and a retaliatory attempt to revoke his church’s 45 year old parking lot lease. His crime?
Exercising his God-given and constitutionally protected right to practice his faith and hold church services without arbitrary interference from the state. He had faith in God and courage (and some good lawyers I might add 😀), and he emerged VICTORIOUS
— and now the County of LA and State of CA are paying him $800,000 to cover his attorneys’ fees and settle his case.
It’s been an honor and privilege to represent Pastor John MacArthur with @JennaEllisEsq. This is an incredible story of faith, perseverance, and courage.
I think it’s also a message from God: if we trust Him and have faith, we can accomplish anything — even when it seems the deck is stacked against us.
If this victory is important to you, then I encourage you to read about and support @ThomasMoreSoc. They made it possible for us to represent Pastor John MacArthur pro bono and to win many other important victories for people of faith.
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Yes, there are judges in CA that understand the Constitution and are willing to take bold action to uphold it. Some notable quotes from Judge Chalfant when he correctly ruled last Friday that LA County had not met its burden to single out churches and ban indoor services at GCC:
"THE GOVERNOR CAN'T JUST ISSUE POLICIES WITHOUT A RATIONAL BASIS TO DO SO. TO MY KNOWLEDGE HE NEVER HAS DEVELOPED A RATIONAL BASIS TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN BUSINESSES. THIS IS ALL SORT
OF SHOOTING FROM THE HIP. WHICH IS UNDERSTANDABLE AT THE BEGINNING OF AN EMERGENCY ...
AND LESS UNDERSTANDABLE AS TIME GOES ON. THAT'S POINT ONE..."
"ALTHOUGH THE MOVING PAPER PURPORTS TO TREAT CHURCHES THE SAME AS OTHER BUSINESSES, THAT IS
CONSTITUTIONALLY WRONG. THEY'RE ENTITLED TO HEIGHTENED PROTECTION, NOT TO BE TREATED LIKE A HAIR SALON."