Appeals Court backs Santa Clara County ban on indoor religious services – By Elliott Almond (Mercury News) / Feb 13 2021
Ninth Circuit judges rule that Santa Clara County’s order does not target churches
Santa Clara County’s ban on indoor church services remains in effect after judges in the U.S. District Court for the Ninth Circuit rejected an appeal to end the order.
The Appeals Court ruled in favor of Santa Clara County because its directive on indoor gatherings does not target churches, the judges wrote in a decision issued late Friday night.
“The challenged ban on indoor “gatherings” currently in effect for Santa Clara County applies equally to all indoor gatherings of any kind or type, whether public or private, religious or secular,” they said in the decision. “The Directive, which appears to affect far more activities than most other jurisdictions’ health measures, does not “single out houses of worship” for worse treatment than secular activities.”
The decision comes a week after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s strict order barring indoor religious services in California seemingly violated the First Amendment’s protection of the free exercise of religion.
