Pasadena Church Gets $1.35M From CA To Settle COVID-19 Lawsuit

PASADENA, CA — California will pay $1.35 million in attorney's fees and costs to Pasadena's Harvest Rock Church to settle a lawsuit Monday over coronavirus restrictions imposed by the state on houses of worship.

The settlement “resolves this case while providing clarity and certainty to the public around the public health standards applicable to places of worship following recent rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court,” an official in Gov. Gavin Newsom's office told Newsweek in a statement.

The church sued last year after Newsom ordered churches to close or limit their occupancy at the start of the pandemic. As part of the settlement, the state can no longer impose any similar restrictions on churches.

“After nearly a yearlong battle defending our religious freedoms, our lawsuit has reached a permanent settlement in our favor,” the Rev. Ché Ahn, founding pastor of Harvest Rock Church, said in a statement. “I am thrilled to see the complete reversal of the last discriminatory restrictions against churches in California.”

The settlement follows a series of Supreme Court rulings regarding the authority a state has to impose limits on religious worship during the pandemic.

The Supreme Court voted 5-4 in April to block California's ability to restrict indoor home religious gatherings such as Bible studies and prayer groups. Prior to the court’s ruling, Newsom ordered a rollback of state restrictions.

The high court also blocked New York's ability to enforce limitations on attendance at churches and synagogues in known coronavirus hot spots last November.