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Government,
Constitutional Law

May 5, 2020

US judge says governor has the right to close churches

The judge said police actions such as disrupting a church service would be barred “under normal circumstances. ... But sometimes, normalcy is lost.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom was within his rights to halt in-person religious services to fight the coronavirus, a federal judge ruled late Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez in Sacramento denied a temporary restraining order sought by a pastor Jonathan Duncan. In late March when police came into his Lodi to force him to cease a service he was holding. Newsom had issued orders earlier in the month that prohibited gatherings, includin...

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