Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered to pay $1.35 million to LA-area church over coronavirus lockdowns



California Gov. Gavin Newsom was ordered to pay a $1.35 million settlement to a Los Angeles-area church following a decision by a federal judge. The ruling in favor of a Pasadena church is a rebuke of Newsom's draconian restrictions on in-person religious worship during the coronavirus pandemic.

In the settlement, U.S. District Court Judge Jesus G. Bernal ordered Newsom to cover the legal expenses of Liberty Counsel, a Christian legal organization that filed the lawsuit on behalf of Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry against the Democratic governor of California.

Newsom is permanently prohibited from "issuing or enforcing regulations in connection with the COVID-19 State of Emergency declared on March 4, 2020 that impose any capacity or numerical restrictions on religious worship services and gatherings at places of worship," as long as COVID-19 infections of minors does not rise 100% statewide or 200% in a county with at least 10 coronavirus hospitalizations, or as long as ICU hospital bed capacity doesn't fall below 20%, or statewide daily case rates for coronavirus does not rise above 25 cases per 100,000.

"Under the settlement, California may no longer impose discriminatory restrictions upon houses of worship," Liberty Counsel said in a news release. "This is the first state-wide permanent injunction in the country against COVID restrictions on churches and places of worship. Under the agreed state-wide permanent injunction, all California churches may hold worship without discriminatory restrictions."

Liberty Counsel argued that Newsom implemented "discriminatory restrictions" against houses of worship, but was much more lenient against "similar non-religious" activities and gatherings, such as grocery stores and transportation.

"He is the worst governor in America" for religious freedom, said Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, according to the Washington Examiner. "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.

"Gov. Newsom's COVID restrictions intentionally discriminated against churches while providing preferential treatment to many secular businesses and gatherings," Staver continued. "What's important is this ruling is permanent. He cannot ever do this again."

"After nearly a yearlong battle defending our religious freedoms, our lawsuit has reached a permanent settlement in our favor," the Rev. Ché Ahn, founder of Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry, said in a statement, according to the Patch. "I am thrilled to see the complete reversal of the last discriminatory restrictions against churches in California."

"Gov. Newsom has always put the health and well-being of Californians first, resulting in the lowest positivity rates in the country and over 35 million shots in arms — more than any other state," Newsom's office said in a statement to Newsweek. "This 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 US Supreme Court."

The Harvest Rock Church initially filed a lawsuit against California in July when lockdown restrictions were implemented.

The settlement follows Supreme Court rulings against stringent pandemic lockdowns against religious freedoms.

In April, the Supreme Court ruled against Newsom's strict regulations against religious services. In the 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court proclaimed that California's restrictions prohibiting three or more households from gathering indoors are likely unconstitutional because the same regulations do not apply to secular activities.

"California treats some comparable secular activities more favorably than at-home religious exercise, permitting hair salons, retail stores, personal care services, movie theaters, private suites at sporting events and concerts, and indoor restaurants to bring together more than three households at a time," the majority opinion declared.

In December, the high court ruled against Newsom's restrictions on indoor religious services during the coronavirus pandemic.

In November, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) for enacting stricter guidelines against places of worship than non-religious activities.

Another California official gets caught tossing a party while everyone else is forced to lockdown



Another California government official is being called a hypocrite over a wedding party at her house in August during a surge in the coronavirus cases.

Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton revealed on Facebook that she had invited guests for the party but claimed that she followed all social distancing guidelines, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

"I ensured all my guests had their temperature taken before entering the backyard, everyone wore masks, and were socially distanced throughout the ceremony," she said.

Becton also claimed that she wasn't aware of a surge in the coronavirus cases at the same time as her party.

"I don't know what the surge was at that time. Nobody in our event got COVID-19," Becton said. "I really thought I was in that arena of a cultural ceremony, so those were the guidelines that I was following."

The Chronicle reported that the California Department of Public Health banned gatherings that brought together people from different households.

The party included between 25 and 30 family members, according to Becton's account.

One of Becton's neighbors told the Chronicle that she was "aghast" that Becton had a party at her home during the pandemic.

Karyl Toms, a retiree, said she didn't know Becton personally but grew angry when she found out her neighbor was a district attorney.

"That's when I got really upset," Toms said. "No surprise here, the poor suckers are locked down and people who have power get to do what they want. What, rules pertain to me?"

Others compared the incident to that of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who was caught attending a dinner party at a ritzy restaurant while ignoring social distancing rules.

"During this period, the state and bay [area] counties have fined and persecuted businesses, have forcibly shut houses of worship, threatened food kitchens in gurdwaras and other charitable institutions, but Diana Becton can have a party because her culture demands it? Unbelievable," responded Harmeet Dhillon, a former California GOP official.

Here's a news video of Diana Becton from better times:

Contra Costa County's New District Attorney Diana Becton Wants To Restore Trustwww.youtube.com

High school football player bashes Newsom in viral rant against lockdowns: 'What a wasted final year of school'



A California high school football player went viral for his compelling rant against Gov. Gavin Newsom's restrictive COVID-19 lockdowns that have shut down team sports. Isaiah Navarro, who attends Paraclete High School in Lancaster, voiced his frustrations on all of the paramount life experiences that he was robbed of in his "wasted final year of school."

"Zero offers, zero looks, zero commitments, zero time on campus, zero homecoming, zero prom, zero traditional graduation," Navarro tweeted this week. "What a wasted final year of school."

"Worked hard and dedicated for absolutely ZERO. Big shout out to @GavinNewsom! You got what you wanted," the young man wrote, and tagged the Democratic governor of California.

After the tweet went viral with over 12,000 retweets and nearly 60,000 likes, Navarro remarked that he was "honestly humbled by the retweets and positive comments."

"I know there are thousands in my shoes across this State," the football player stated. "I do not want anything given to me, just a chance to show my value and be an asset. Gray shirt, red shirt, grass, turf or dirt. I will play anywhere, God willing."

Honestly humbled by the retweets and positive comments. I know there are thousands in my shoes across this State.… https://t.co/KpsNxeBXCV
— Isaiah J. Navarro (@Isaiah J. Navarro)1612414273.0

Navarro was invited to appear on "Fox & Friends," where he said his plans for this fall are "working on myself" since the future of high school sports is in question in the Golden State.

His previous plans for his senior year during football were to win another defensive lineman of the year award and to be named MVP.

Navarro called out Newsom's double standard coronavirus lockdowns that allow private schools to participate in sports, but public schools are barred from athletics — putting kids at a disadvantage in being awarded athletic scholarships.

When asked if Newsom hurt him financially by costing him a scholarship, Navarro responded by saying, "Yeah, he did, with a lot of opportunities that could have come along with the process of going towards offers and scholarships. With that being taken away was a huge thing taken away from high school students. It's a big thing for us student athletes."

"This is our only chance to help our family," Navarro stated. "We want to support our family and relatives."

"We love the sport, but being that taken away is a huge part of our lives," he said.

Navarro said the reaction to his viral tweet has been "ridiculous."

"I didn't think I'd get this big of an audience to side with me and get this out," Navarro said.

High school football star @IsaiahJNavarro1 calls out California‘s governor for keeping student athletes off the fie… https://t.co/ngJIWpKheJ
— Fox & Friends First (@Fox & Friends First)1612532106.0

Newsom lifted the mandatory stay-at-home orders on Jan. 25, which allowed certain sports to return: cross country, golf, tennis, swimming, and diving.

However, time is running out on the 2021 high school football season. The California Interscholastic Federation said football's end date this spring can be as late as May 1, but leagues around the state say the final date is April 17, according to CBS Sports.

"You go from the end date and work backwards," Junipero Serra High School's football coach Patrick Walsh said. "If we can start sometime in early March that gives us 5-8 games. I think all reasonable players and coaches would be happy with that."

On Wednesday, Newsom defended his position.

"As I said, I not only have four kids who want to be educated, but they love sports," Newsom stated. "So I recognize all of the benefits — physical and mental — as well as the benefits to teachers and parents who have kids who are engaged in physical activities in terms of our responsibility to support those children as well. We want to see this happen."

"We want to do it safely and a lot of great data has been provided by the same groups that are suing us," the governor said. "If I was concerned about lawsuits, I would have collapsed a year ago. We receive dozens of them every week. And some of them are from folks who are very close to us. It's clarifying. It allows for focus. Some are specious, political. Others like this I think are quite legitimate in terms of what they ultimately want to achieve."

California city bans public sitting, removes seats from public property in attempt to battle COVID-19 spike



The city of Manhattan Beach, California, is really worried about a recent spike in COVID-19 cases.

In fact, city fathers are so worried that they have issued a new edict for their subjects: No sitting on public property.

That's right: Residents will no longer be permitted to use the city's seating on publicly owned lands — the officials had all of the seats removed this weekend, the New York Post reported Sunday night.

What are they doing?

The coastal city, located about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles and inside L.A. County, saw its number of confirmed COVID-19 cases nearly double over the last two months.

According to the Manhattan Beach Twitter feed, the city had 425 cases on Nov. 1. As of last Saturday, the city had 821 cases. And the daily number of new cases set record highs on Dec. 31 (21 cases) and Jan. 1 (26 cases).

So city officials decided it was time to take action. That action came in the form of a sitting ban.

Image source: Twitter/Manhattan Beach City

As of 10 p.m. Sunday night, all outdoor seating on public property was closed to the public. The tables and chairs were removed until further notice.

Image source: Twitter/Manhattan Beach City

Mayor Suzanne Hadley said in the tweeted statement from the city, that people should stay home — except to go to work, pick up "essentials," or exercise.

There was no word from the city on where people outside exercising might sit and rest if they need a break.

But officials who have helped cripple local businesses with their restrictions were quick to encourage citizens — whom they simultaneously told to stay home — to go out and support "our local businesses that are offering pick-up, curbside, take-out, and delivery services."

More from the mayor:

We must continue to respond to the ever-changing dynamics of this pandemic. We are asking residents to stay home if possible, and mainly go out for work and essentials, or to exercise outdoors.

This recent spike in the virus is significant, despite the good news last month of our Manhattan Beach firefighters receiving some of the first COVID-19 vaccinations. Although public seating areas will be closed temporarily, please continue supporting our local businesses that offer pick-up, curbside, take-out, and delivery services.

Image source: Twitter/Manhattan Beach City

As the number of new COVID-19 cases continues to rise in MB and across the County, the City is closing outdoor seat… https://t.co/uK7MMY7oBL
— Manhattan Beach City (@Manhattan Beach City)1609641935.0

(H/T: HotAir)

Adam Carolla: If you voted Democratic, you voted for this tyranny



In this episode of "The Rubin Report," BlazeTV host Dave Rubin was joined by comedian, social critic, and father of podcasting, Adam Carolla, to talk about how California's Democratic voters are, in his opinion, responsible for the lockdowns they are now fleeing in droves.

Adam said he believes leftists have a backward view of the value of work, forgetting the "super important part of work, which is self-worth, and pride, and self-esteem, and the depression that kicks in, and all that, once you get on the dole."

He also talked about the "cognitive dissonance" he thinks Democratic voters have between their voting patterns and the high taxes, draconian lockdowns, and general tyranny they find themselves living under.

"I've been saying for a number of years that all roads lead to narcissism," Adam said. "The people I know that vote [Democratic], they voted that way and now they want to kind of will themselves to be correct ... these are people that hate being wrong. They have huge egos and they never want to be wrong."

Dave and Adam discussed California Secretary of Health and Human Services Mark Ghaly's stunning admission that outdoor dining bans are "not a comment on the relative safety of outdoor dining" but are actually about trying to keep people at home.

"It was a comment that kind of slid by a lot of people," Adam said of Ghaly's admission. "But it's a very scary precedent when the powers that be are essentially saying, 'You're gonna stay home because I told you to stay home.' And then you say, 'Give me proof why I should stay home.' And they go, 'I don't have to give you proof. I told you to stay home.'"

Watch the video clip below to catch more of the conversation, or find Dave's full episode with Adam Carolla here.


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