ACLJ Files Petition at the U.S. Supreme Court Defending Church Against Unconstitutional Million-Dollar Fines

Today the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), together with our co-counsel at Advocates for Faith and Freedom, filed a petition for certiorari at the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Calvary Chapel San Jose and Pastor Mike McClure. This case challenges more than $1.2 million in fines imposed on the church and its pastor by Leftist government officials in California for holding worship services during California’s COVID lockdowns – fines levied solely because they chose to follow their faith rather than California Governor Gavin Newsom’s ever-shifting rules on how, when, and where worship could occur.

This isn’t the first time that the ACLJ represented a church challenging California’s unlawful worship bans and restrictions during the COVID pandemic. We prevailed then – and we’re prepared to fight and win again. Take action with us and sign our petition to defeat the Left’s war against Christians.

A Church Penalized for Worship

Throughout the pandemic, Santa Clara County issued a series of sweeping “health orders” that dictated nearly every detail of public life – including how a church could conduct its services. The county’s rules imposed strict masking, distancing, and capacity mandates on houses of worship, while carving out broad exceptions for favored secular activities such as professional athletics, restaurants, and retail.

Calvary Chapel and Pastor McClure continued to gather for worship according to their convictions. The county responded by seeking injunctions, contempt sanctions, and ultimately millions of dollars in administrative fines. Although earlier contempt orders were overturned as unconstitutional, the California courts later upheld more than $1.2 million in penalties for the very same religious conduct.

The Constitutional Questions Before the Court

Our petition asks the Supreme Court to resolve four urgent constitutional questions:

1. Whether COVID restrictions riddled with secular exceptions can ever be considered “generally applicable” under Employment Division v. Smith, or whether such laws must face strict scrutiny when they burden religious exercise.
2. Whether the church autonomy doctrine protects not only a church’s right to choose its ministers, but also its right to conduct its worship and liturgy free from government interference.
3. If Smith allows governments to micromanage religious services, whether this Court should overrule Smith as inconsistent with the Free Exercise Clause.
4. Whether imposing million-dollar penalties on a church for adhering to its religious convictions violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on excessive fines.

Why This Case Matters

This case is about far more than one church in California. It’s about whether government officials can claim authority to referee worship – dictating whether congregants may sing, how far apart they must stand, or whether a pastor may lead communion. Those powers are incompatible with the First Amendment and with the very idea of religious liberty in America.

As our petition explains, government micromanagement of worship services “is something one would expect from the Soviet Union or Communist China,” not from a constitutional republic founded on freedom of conscience.

If the lower court’s ruling stands, it would give state and local officials unprecedented power to control the internal life of churches whenever they invoke “public health” or another broad governmental interest.

Defending the Right To Worship

The ACLJ has been at the forefront of the legal fight to protect churches and religious believers throughout the pandemic, winning major victories across the country and at the Supreme Court. But this case presents a new frontier: not just whether churches can meet, but whether the government may dictate the manner of worship itself.

We are asking the Supreme Court to affirm that the Constitution protects both the freedom to believe and the freedom to practice those beliefs – without government interference, intimidation, or crushing financial punishment.

What’s Next

The state of California and Santa Clara County will now have an opportunity to respond, and the Supreme Court will determine whether to grant review. We will keep you updated as this critical case advances. The stakes could not be higher for every church, synagogue, and mosque in America.

Stand with us as we defend the right to worship freely – the right that stands at the heart of all our other freedoms. Add your name to the petition: Defeat the Left’s War Against Christians.