Category: Legal

NORTH CAROLINA: JUDGE RULES IN FAVOR OF CHURCHES SEEKING TO HOLD INDOOR SERVICES~”THERE IS NO PANDEMIC EXCEPTION TO CONSTITUTION”

NORTH CAROLINA: 
JUDGE RULES IN FAVOR OF CHURCHES SEEKING TO HOLD INDOOR SERVICES~
“THERE IS NO PANDEMIC EXCEPTION TO CONSTITUTION” 
BY HEATHER CLARK
RALEIGH, N.C. — A U.S. district judge in North Carolina has ruled in favor of two churches and a ministry that want to hold indoor services but feel prevented from doing so as executive orders from Gov. Roy Cooper have limited “mass gatherings” to 10 people and a later directive said that larger meetings should “take place outdoors unless impossible.” The judge stated that there is no good reason why churches can’t have indoor services — with social distancing and other protective measures in place — when funeral homes and other locations are allowed to accommodate dozens of people.
“There is no pandemic exception to the Constitution of the United States or the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment,” wrote Judge James Dever III, nominated to the bench by then-President George W. Bush.
“Plaintiffs have demonstrated that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their Free Exercise claim concerning the assembly for religious worship provisions in Executive Order 138, that they will suffer irreparable harm absent a temporary restraining order, that the equities tip in their favor, and that a temporary restraining order is in the public interest.”
In March, Gov. Cooper issued Executive Order 116, declaring a state emergency, followed by a series of executive orders, such as order 121, which defined “mass gatherings” as “any event or convening that brings together more than ten (10) persons in a single room or single space at the same time.” Religious services were specifically held to this 10-person limit, while funeral services were limited to 50 people.
Earlier this month, Cooper issued a new order, Executive Order 138, which allowed religious gatherings of more than 10 people, but with the notation that such gatherings should “take place outdoors unless impossible.”
Guidance issued by the director of Legislative Affairs outlined in further detail on the “impossible” factor, “For example, there may be situations in which particular religious beliefs dictate that some or all of a religious service must be held indoors and that more than ten persons must be in attendance.”
Two churches, Berean Baptist Church and People’s Baptist Church, along with the organization Return America, sued Cooper on Thursday, asserting that the “outdoors unless impossible” requirement violates their First Amendment rights under the Free Exercise Clause.
A rally with approximately 500 people was also held next to the state legislative building that same day, according to the Greensboro News & Record. 
While Judge Dever noted on Saturday that “[n]o constitutional right — including the right of free exercise of religion — is absolute,” he expressed concern that law enforcement would be the final arbiter of whether it is deemed “impossible” for any particular church to meet outside.
He also pointed out that legal representation for Cooper “could not explain why the governor trusts those who run funerals to have 50 people inside to attend the funeral, but only trusts religious entities and individuals to have 10 people inside to worship.”
“Eleven men and women can stand side by side working indoors Monday through Friday at a hospital, at a plant, or at a package distribution center and be trusted to follow social distancing and hygiene guidance, but those same eleven men and women cannot be trusted to do the same when they worship inside together on Saturday or Sunday. ‘The distinction defies explanation, or at least the governor has not provided one,’” Dever wrote.
He outlined that the churches plan to exercise safety guidelines to protect its members and that those who worship are the same people who go to the stores to shop, and they would not behave any differently based on location.
“[C]ommon sense suggests that religious leaders and worshipers (whether inside or outside North Carolina) have every incentive to behave safely and responsibly whether working indoors, shopping indoors, or worshiping indoors,” Dever said. “The governor cannot treat religious worship as a world apart from non-religious activities with no good, or more importantly, constitutional, explanation.”
“Plaintiffs have pledged to adhere to ‘all recommended COVID-19 social distancing and personal hygiene safety guidelines’ in exercising their free exercise rights,” he noted. “They simply want the governor to afford them the same treatment as they and their fellow non-religious citizens receive when they work at a plant, clean an office, ride a bus, shop at a store, or mourn someone they love at a funeral.”
Ultimately, Dever found that the order does not meet the “narrowly tailored” and “least restrictive means” prongs of the strict scrutiny standard in legal precedent.
“The court trusts worshipers and their leaders to look after one another and society while exercising their free exercise rights just as they and their fellow citizens (whether religious or not) do when engaged in non-religious activities,” he wrote. “Plaintiffs have pledged to practice social distancing and other public health guidelines, just like others under EO 138. Accordingly, the equities tip in favor of granting a temporary restraining order.”
Cooper’s office says it disagrees with the ruling but does not plan to appeal.
“We don’t want indoor meetings to become hotspots for the virus, and our health experts continue to warn that large groups sitting together inside for long periods of time are much more likely to cause the spread of COVID-19,” a statement, as reported by local television station WRAL, reads.
“We urge houses of worship and leaders to voluntarily follow public health guidance to keep their members safe.”

GESTAPO POLICE STATE NEW JERSEY: ELIZABETH, N.J. LANDLORD, ACQUITTED LAST YEAR OF ANTI-MUSLIM BIAS, MUST STAND TRIAL AGAIN

The double jeopardy clause in the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from prosecuting individuals more than once for a single offense and from imposing more than one punishment for a single offense. It provides that “No person shall … be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.”
VIDEO:
 
GESTAPO POLICE STATE NEW JERSEY: ELIZABETH, N.J. LANDLORD, ACQUITTED LAST YEAR OF ANTI-MUSLIM BIAS, MUST STAND TRIAL AGAIN
BY ROBERT SPENCER
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research
purposes:
“A jury sided with Greda, saying the plaintiffs failed to prove he discriminated against Farghaly based on her religion.”
But that doesn’t matter. He has offended the new protected class. Our moral superiors will keep putting William Greda, and others like him, on trial until they get the verdict they want.
“NJ landlord must stand trial again over accusations of anti-Muslim bias, judges rule,” by Terrence T. McDonald, NorthJersey.com, May 15, 2020 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
An Elizabeth landlord cleared by a jury last year of charges that he refused to rent an apartment to a Muslim woman must stand trial again, an appellate panel ruled on Wednesday.
The three-court panel ordered a new trial because, the judges say in their 36-page ruling, the landlord’s defense attorney improperly questioned the Muslim woman about her religious beliefs during the initial trial.
By asking her about references to “infidels” in the Quran and Islamic politics, the landlord’s lawyer elicited “highly prejudicial” testimony that had no value and impaired the woman’s credibility in front of the jury, the ruling says.
The judges also said the trial judge improperly declared a televised news interview with the landlord, William Greda, inadmissible as evidence.
“The only victim here is Mr. Greda, who was forced to undergo this malicious prosecution by New Jersey,” said Greda’s attorney, Vincent Sanzone. “The people will speak again in a retrial.”
The dispute at the center of the case dates to February 2016 and it is detailed in the appellate judges’ decision.
Fatma Farghaly alleges she visited Greda’s 17-unit apartment building in Elizabeth wearing a khimar, or head covering. Farghaly alleges Greda asked her if she is Muslim and then told her, “I don’t rent to Muslims” before asking her to leave. Farghaly captured a subsequent conversation with Greda on her phone.
Farghaly reported the incident to Elizabeth police, then to the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights. The division followed up with two undercover visits. During the first, a division employee wearing a headscarf asked to see an apartment in Greda’s building and says he told her the apartment was “not good” for her. A second division employee not wearing a headscarf visited later and says Greda did not tell her the apartment was unsuitable.
The Civil Rights Division and the state Attorney General’s Office filed a complaint in October 2016 charging Greda with violating Farghaly’s civil rights. Then-Attorney General Christopher Porrino called Greda’s conduct “blatantly bias-driven.”
During the five-day trial, Greda denied Farghaly’s description of events and testified he believed she may have planned the encounter so they could “extort from him to support ISIS.”
A jury sided with Greda, saying the plaintiffs failed to prove he discriminated against Farghaly based on her religion.
The appellate judges took issue with several moments during the trial involving Sanzone. Sanzone repeatedly violated rules of evidence by asking Farghaly about Islam and at one point “gratuitously” suggested her accountant and doctor are Muslim, the judges say.
“Defense counsel’s questioning about Farghaly’s religious beliefs and the principles in the Quran constituted a clear and direct attack on her credibility,” the ruling says. “Indeed, the questioning sought information that had no substantive, probative value to any factual issue presented in the matter.”…
__________________________________________________________________
 Attorney General, Division on Civil Rights Announce Superior Court Complaint Against Landlord for Rejecting Muslim Apartment Seeker
 Landlord Accused of Telling Woman Wearing Khimar: ‘I Don’t Rent to Muslims’
SEE: https://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases16/pr20161019a.html
ALSO: 
https://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases16/Maple Garden_Complaint.pdf
AND:
https://www.njcourts.gov/attorneys/assets/opinions/appellate/
published/a0604-18.pdf?c=J3C

TOP SOUTHERN BAPTIST LEADER, RUSSELL MOORE, BEGS NANCY PELOSI TO RELEASE MORE PRISONERS AMID CORONAVIRUS “PLANDEMIC”

WHEN THE “SLOWLY BECOMING CATHOLIC” SOUTHERN BAPTISTS KNEEL & BEG FOR HANDOUTS & RELEASE OF PRISONERS FROM THE VERY CATHOLIC, POPE SYCOPHANT NANCY PELOSI 

TOP SOUTHERN BAPTIST LEADER, 
RUSSELL MOORE, BEGS NANCY PELOSI 
TO RELEASE MORE PRISONERS 
AMID CORONAVIRUS “PLANDEMIC”
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research
purposes:
Nothing says anti-Christ statism like turning the Church into a government-funded 
institution. While church leaders around the country are caving to the state’s demands 
that they shut their doors and Democrat governors are blaming the spread of coronavirus on Christians, some Evangelical leaders are tramping around begging Caesar to give money to these churches.
This is exactly what top Southern Baptist leader and president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Russell Moore is doing.


Moore, who has a difficult time grasping the concept of the Separation of Church and State from numerous fronts, sent a letter to Nancy Pelosi begging her for money to keep the doors of churches from shuttering permanently. In this letter, he asks for restrictions on charitable businesses to be removed and more money to be handed out to them through the Payment Protection Program in Phase 4 of the COVID-19 Relief Package.


The inability to access those loans will hinder the good work of many nonprofits, and could permanently close other charitable organizations. This could be solved through a nonprofit charity grant program that would be accessed by faith-based charities to support employee retention, hiring, and programming. The funds could be administered through a nonprofit PPP program, and a nonprofit grant program administered by the U.S. Treasury.

It’s bad enough that the most influential leader in the largest Protestant denomination in the country is begging Nancy Pelosi — of all people — for more money. But that’s not all he’s doing. He is also begging her to release more prisoners from federal prison.


He writes: Incarcerated men and women are especially vulnerable in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis because of contained physical space. This is especially true for aging and immunocompromised incarcerated populations. Congress should expand compassionate release during the pandemic, so that higher-risk individuals would be protected from medical harm. The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and federal courts use this tool to reduce sentences for federal prisoners on a case-by-case basis for “extraordinary and compelling reasons.”


Congress should temporarily reduce the 30 day waiting period for federal prisoners to file a motion for compassionate release directly with a federal court in order to speed up the process and provide quicker physical and medical relief to those incarcerated.

We learned last night on Tucker Carlson that Nancy Pelosi — who joined Russell Moore and other Southern Baptist leaders last year at the NAE Conference to oppose the border wall — has taken Russell Moore’s concerns to heart and has included massive provisions that would release enormous amounts of prisoners into the streets of America.



Southern Baptists are paying for this. And church leaders who keep sending money to this rogue entity rather than speak out boldly and publicly against him are part of the problem.

			

		

		
		

			
							

		


	

		
	

		
		
SEVERAL CHURCHES FILE JOINT LAWSUIT AGAINST MICHIGAN GOVERNOR WHITMER OVER UNCONSTITUTIONAL STAY AT HOME ORDER
		
		
 

	
		
		
					

			
		

						
SEVERAL CHURCHES FILE JOINT LAWSUIT AGAINST MICHIGAN GOVERNOR WHITMER OVER UNCONSTITUTIONAL 


STAY AT HOME ORDER 



republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research


purposes:


In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, governors in almost every state in the country


issued executive orders bypassing state legislature to enact Unconstitutional lockdowns


that kept businesses closed, churches from gathering, and people locked away in their


homes under the threat of force by law enforcement who chose to uphold these governor’s


orders rather than the Constitution they swore to uphold. Thankfully, in many local and


county governments, many did not — including some in Michigan.


Following widespread protests in the state of Michigan — which included tens of thousands of citizens driving into the state capital city of Lansing — several sheriffs in the state vowed not to enforce the draconian orders. Instead of listening to the citizens’ protest of her infringement of their constitutional rights, instead, Governor Janet Whitmer proceeded to blame and ridicule them.


Now, several churches, pastors, laypeople, and a former Republican delegate have filed a joint lawsuit against the Michigan tyrant claiming that her orders continue to hinder religious gatherings against afforded them in the First Amendment of the Constitution despite the “exceptions” that are made.


Whitmer’s executive order, which is in effect until May 15, says “neither a place of religious worship nor its owner” could be penalized or charged with a misdemeanor for “allowing religious worship at such place,” and that “no individual would be subject” to penalties for not wearing a face mask, which is currently a legal requirement in confined public places, including grocery stores.”


However, the lawsuit argues that “Nothing in this provision applies to individuals attending a place or worship as clergy or congregants,” and “A promise to not subject a geographic location or its ‘owner’ to the criminal penalty … merely adorns the Constitution with a fig leaf and does not protect individuals or change the clear language of the order prohibiting any religious services or other ministry functions at a church or religious organization.”




The lawsuit asks a federal judge to deem the 1945 Emergency Powers Act and the 1976 Emergency Management Act, which afforded Whitmer the power to issue her executive orders, unconstitutional.


“Nothing in the U.S. Constitution authorizes a state governor to suspend constitutional representative governance by declaring new emergencies every 28 days into perpetuity,” the complaint says. “Allowing one person to wield absolute power is not a republican form of government, it is tyranny.”




The entire lawsuit can be seen at this link.

			

		

		
		

			
							

		


	

		
	

		
		
CHURCHES REFUSE TO COWER BEFORE CAESAR; COURT VICTORY IN KENTUCKY
		
		
 

	
		
		
					

			
		

						




In-person church services resume across the Commonwealth


CHURCHES REFUSE TO COWER BEFORE CAESAR; COURT VICTORY IN KENTUCKY


BY BOB ADELMANN



republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research


purposes:


Some churches are suing. Some are asking permission to reopen in-person church services. Some are announcing they are opening in-person church services — with or without the government’s permission.


U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove issued a temporary restraining order on Friday against Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s edict banning in-person church services.


The complaint was brought by Tabernacle Baptist Church of Nicholasville on Wednesday, May 6. The judge issued the order on Friday and the governor officially backed off that same day. The judge’s ruling applies to all churches in the commonwealth.


On March 25 Governor Beshear issued an executive order that required all organizations that are not “life-sustaining” to close. According to his edict churches were not considered to be “life-sustaining,” but laundromats, accounting services, law firms, hardware stores, and other secular entities were. This formed the first basis of the complaint: blatant discrimination.


But the meat of the complaint rested on constitutional violations:


Requiring Plaintiff [Tabernacle] to abstain from its religious gatherings, despite substantial modifications to satisfy the public health interests at stake, violates Plaintiff’s Constitutional right to free exercise of its religion;


By denying Plaintiff the ability to assemble via an in-person church service, Defendants [Governor Beshear and another official in his administration] are in violation of the Freedom of Assembly Clause [contained in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution];


Requiring Plaintiff to abstain from its religious gatherings, despite substantial modifications to satisfy the public health interests at stake, violates Plaintiff’s Constitutional right peaceably to assemble [also in the First Amendment].


On Friday the judge granted what the church demanded: a temporary restraining order against the governor’s edict.


Later that day the governor backed off: “I believe that the healthiest economy coming out of COVID-19 is going to be the one that can keep the virus contained while they successfully reopen. Remember, listen to your faith leader. If they tell you that they’re not ready and that they don’t think that it’s safe, then you should wait.”


In retrospect this is what all governors should have announced from the beginning: leave it up to individuals and organizations on how properly to respond to the threat, rather than allowing governors to interfere where they had no right to.


In California, on the other hand, churches there are taking a more direct approach: They informed Governor Gavin Newsom that they were going to start holding in-person church services starting May 31. They didn’t ask permission. They didn’t go to court. The ministers and leaders of more than 3,000 churches in the state, with 2.5 million followers, simply announced on Thursday that they will open in-person services to celebrate the Day of Pentecost (the day the Holy Spirit descended upon Christ’s apostles and launched the Christian religion).


A few of the pastors couldn’t let the moment pass without comment. Water of Life Community Church senior pastor Danny Carroll said: “Our churches are part of the answer, not part of the problem. We’re an essential part of this whole journey and we’ve been bypassed … kicked to the curb and deemed nonessential.”


Pastor Matt Brown of Sandals Church called out Governor Newsom:


My church made 10,000 masks and gowns for doctors while practicing social distancing. We feed people and procure electronic devices for seniors who are isolated. [Newsom] has no problem with all of that. But when we want to gather to worship, he has a problem….


[Newsom] didn’t ask us. He overstepped and he’s overreached. And he needs to step back and he needs to declare that the church is an essential part of what we do as Americans, as what we do as Californians.


That same day the governor met with some of the pastors and offered the possibility that he might relent and allow them to reopen earlier than expected:


Our fear is simply this. Congregations of people from far and wide coming together in a closed space at a large scale remains a point of concern and anxiety for us. We are working on guidelines for physical distancing and working with faith leaders talking about unique conditions in their own facilities. Nothing is etched in stone.


Bob Tyler, a religious freedom attorney who is advising the pastors, responded: “The churches are not asking for permission. The governor is sitting here as a dictator, trumping the Constitution and is kind of hanging on to this state of emergency for as long as he can hold it. We’ll give the governor an opportunity to amend his order. If he doesn’t, these pastors have told me that they’re committed to opening regardless of what the governor decides.”


Some churches aren’t waiting for Pentecost or for the governor to relent. The 412 Church in Murreitta and a sister congregation in San Jacinto have already begun holding in-person church services.


____________________________________________________________


Federal judge rules all Kentucky churches can have in-person services starting this Sunday






			

		

		
		

			
							

		


	

		
	

		
		
CHICAGO: ROMANIAN PASTORS PUT ILLINOIS GOVERNOR ON NOTICE WITH FIERY DECLARATION: “WE’RE OPENING MAY 10 NO MATTER WHAT”
		
		
 

	
		
		
					

			
		

						














Elim Church


2.8K subscribers










Official Statement – Pastor Cristian Ionescu




















ABOVE VIDEO IS IN ENGLISH


CHICAGO: ROMANIAN PASTORS PUT 


ILLINOIS GOVERNOR ON NOTICE 


WITH FIERY DECLARATION: 


“WE’RE OPENING MAY 10 NO MATTER WHAT”


BY DUSTIN GERMAIN



republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:


A group of pastors have announced their intent to openly defy Illinois Governor J.B Pritzker’s stay-at-home orders by issuing a declaration that they are opening their churches for in-person services on May 10, no matter the consequences.


The move comes several days after The Beloved Church, a small congregation in Lena, Illinois, held their own in-person services shortly after they filed a federal lawsuit protesting what they view as their state’s severe and oppressive COVID-19 containment policies.  The state had been restricting churches from gathering at all, deeming them to not be “essential actively.”


On the day The Beloved Church filed the suite, the Governor office released a modified executive order that unambiguously allowed Illinois residents to leave their homes “to engage in the free exercise of religion.”


The updated order deems attending church and engaging in religious practices to now be considered a permitted essential activity “provided that such exercise must comply with Social Distancing Requirements and the limit on gatherings of more than ten people in keeping with CDC guidelines for the protection of public health.”


The small acquiescence from the state was too little, too late, and too bad.


Despite the overture from the government to partially relax their fingers wrapped around the churches throat, the Romanian pastors are insistent that they will not relent or change course based on their deeply-held convictions, and are ready to die on this hill. They say they have lived under Romanian communism and are painfully familiar with living under the heavy hand of a totalitarian regime, and will tolerate it no more.


Here is the letter issued to the Governor. It’s a bit of a barn-burner. Bold emphasis added by the signers. Highlighter added by us for clarity and emphasis as well.
































We also have an official statement from Pastor Cristian Ionescu, one of the pastors who signed the letter, in which he delves more into his motivation and thinking and theological implications of the letter and his actions: (SEE ABOVE)

			

		

		
		

			
							

		


	

		
	

		
		
PA REP. STEPHANIE BOROWICZ: COVID-19 UPDATE-GOVERNOR WOLF’S UNCONSTITUTIONAL DICTATES WARRANT FEDERAL INVESTIGATION
		
		
 

	
		
		
					

			
		

						


PA REP. STEPHANIE BOROWICZ:

COVID-19 UPDATE-GOVERNOR WOLF’S UNCONSTITUTIONAL DICTATES WARRANT FEDERAL INVESTIGATION

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research

purposes:


I am so proud to stand alongside so many in the House and the Senate in protecting our liberties.


On behalf of the Independence State of Pennsylvania, we are calling on United States Attorney General William Barr and the Department of Justice to investigate the heavy-handed dictates of the Wolf Administration during the COVID-19 emergency.


“The Constitution is not suspended in times of crisis,” or in the words of Ronald Reagan: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”

______________________________________________________________

We Hear You: House Actions Help Guide State Toward Safe Reopening




With Pennsylvania employers, workers and families continuing to struggle in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the House was back in session this week continuing our work to reopen businesses safely so people can return to work and support their families.


From the moment the governor abruptly announced his unconstitutional statewide business closure order in mid-March, the House has been fighting to bring openness, transparency and logic to the process.


We have taken action on bills to reopen construction (which is slated to open today), golf courses (also slated to reopen today, along with privately owned campgrounds, marinas and guided fishing trips), as well as automobile dealers, smaller retail stores, real estate, garden centers, pet groomers and more.


In fact, while we were debating legislation in the House to safely reopen the real estate industry, the Wolf administration issued new guidance to allow certain transactions to proceed.


Thank you for sharing your questions and concerns with us; we hear you, and it is making a difference.


Other bills advanced by the House this week:

• To help our communities and first responders, House Bill 2413 would invest up to $40 million in grants for fire and emergency medical services companies.

• To help save taxpayer dollars, House Bill 2418 would require a comprehensive review of all Commonwealth debt to identify opportunities to take advantage of refinancing at lower interest rates.

• House Bill 2392 would require the Independent Fiscal Office to include critical risk factors in its assessment of the Commonwealth’s fiscal condition to help lawmakers better plan and budget within our means.

• To address regulations, House Bill 2415 would require the Office of the Governor to notify legislative leaders in writing by electronic means when a specific statute or regulation is suspended, modified or waived under the authority of the emergency order.

• To ensure intergovernmental cooperation throughout the disaster and recovery period, House Bill 2419 would establish the COVID-19 inter-branch Cost and Recovery Task Force.


None of this could have been achieved without the people making their voices heard.


While this is great news, there are more sectors of PA’s economy that are ready to open safely and follow CDC guidelines. It is a matter of survival for more businesses to reopen now!


Elective Surgeries Restored


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