A Roman Catholic priest who oversees churches in four California counties will have his day in court on Dec. 2 armed with eight claims of how Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom’s shutdown orders have violated his constitutional rights.
The list of constitutional violations, including the right to ‘free exercise and enjoyment of religion,” charged by Father Trevor Burfitt represents the most powerful broadside yet against the months-long lockdown under the governor’s application of the state’s Emergency Services Act, according to Burfitt’s attorney Paul Jonna, of LiMandri & Jonna LLP. The firm is being supported in its representation of Burfitt by the Thomas More Society, a national public interest law firm out of Chicago.
“The state of emergency act was never intended to be used this way,” Jonna told the Northern California Record. “It’s effectively turned a system of three branches of government, with its checks and balances, into one branch.”
Along the lines, one of the claims in the action filed on Sept. 29 in California Superior Court is that the governor’s extended lockdown (other government officials are also named in the suit) violates the “separation of powers” provision of the state constitution. The governor’s orders are also violating the right to free assembly provision, the equal protection clause, and five other rights enumerated in the constitution, the lawsuit claims.
Jonna said he was encouraged by a ruling this week where a Superior Court judge ruled that Newsom had overreached his powers when he ordered wholesale voting changes in preparation for the November elections.
“We are cautiously optimistic that the tide is turning,” he said.
One of the churches under Burfitt’s charge, Our Lady of Angels in Arcadia, Los Angeles County, was hit with fines for violating the lockdown orders two weeks after his lawsuit was filed.
Less than a week later, inspectors with the county Department of Public Health threatened the church with more fines after finding two women, both wearing marks, praying inside the church. They were compelled to leave the church, according to a statement from Thomas More.
“It’s ironic,” Jonna said in the statement, “there are dozens of churches in Arcadia – and hundreds in Los Angeles County – yet the parish of Father Burfitt, who is suing Los Angeles County, happens to be a church that these county workers chose to spy on and harass.”