California Gov. Gavin Newsom is seen in Sacramento in this 2020 photo. (CNS photo/Gabriela Bhaskar, Reuters)
Posted December 16, 2020
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (CNS) A California judge Dec. 10 ruled in favor of a Catholic priest of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X who is fighting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions on houses of worship.
Kern County Superior Court Judge Gregory Pulskamp issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting Newsom and others named in Father Trevor Burfitt’s lawsuit from enforcing COVID-19 related restrictions against the priest, who oversees mission churches in Kern, San Bernardino, San Diego and Los Angeles counties.
The court specifically singled out the provisions of Newsom’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy” and his “Regional Stay at Home Order” as failing to treat houses of worship in a manner “equal to the favored class of entities” permitted to engage in indoor activities.
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“The free exercise of religion clause in the California Constitution prohibits Defendants from treating religious activities worse than comparable secular activities,” Judge Pulskamp said in his ruling. “California’s current Covid-related restrictions do exactly that.”
Christopher Ferrara, special counsel for the Thomas More Society representing Father Burfitt, credited the U.S. Supreme Court’s Nov. 25 decision in Brooklyn Diocese v. Cuomo, in which the court ruled against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s restrictions on houses of worship.
“The Supreme Court’s decision in Brooklyn Diocese v. Cuomo has opened the way to the liberation of churches from the absurd and bigoted superstition that they are veritable death chambers threatening the entire population,” said Mr. Ferrara in a statement.
Court issues preliminary injunction protecting Father Trevor Burfitt s Catholic churches from COVID-19 restrictions
Injunction allows churches to continue services during pandemic
Posted at 12:23 PM, Dec 11, 2020
and last updated 2020-12-14 11:18:59-05
A Kern County Superior Court judge has issued a preliminary injunction protecting a Catholic church from COVID-19 restrictions.
On Thursday, Judge Gregory Pulskamp issued the injunction, stemming from a lawsuit filed by Father Trevor Burfitt against California Governor Gavin Newsom, the state s Attorney General Xavier Becerra and local officials over lock down measures in place due to COVID-19.
Burfitt oversees Catholic churches in California, including St. Michael s Church in Bakersfield.
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