California church files for preliminary injunction on Newsom’s restrictions
After a federal appeals court rejected its motion for an emergency injunction against California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s COVID-19 restrictions on indoor worship, a Pasadena-based apostolic Christian church filed a brief Oct. 5 for that court to consider the “full merits” of a preliminary injunction.
In a 2-1 decision Oct. 1, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled against Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry, which argues Newsom’s restrictions are unconstitutional because they violate the First Amendment’s clause on free exercise of religion.
At issue are guidelines Newsom issued in March and expanded over the summer in response to a spike in COVID-19 cases.