California's embattled Gov.
Gavin Newsom has been dealt a fresh blow after a federal judge ordered him to pay $1.35 million over the state's draconian lockdown of 3,000 churches during the coronavirus pandemic.
In his capacity as governor, Newsom was ordered to pay the costs and attorney fees for a lawsuit brought by a Pasadena church that made it all the way to the United States Supreme Court. The May 14 order told Newsom and all state officials to stop regulating church attendance unless a specific set of infection statistics occur, which is unlikely.
“He is the worst governor in America” for religious freedom, said Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit law firm that represented plaintiff Harvest Rock Church. “The church stayed open [during the lockdown], and the pastor and parishioners were threatened with daily criminal charges that were up to a year in prison.”
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