Tag: lawyer

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Church In-person Church Righteous Defiance

What Exactly Happened at James Coates’ Hearing?

Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church had a hearing today to determine whether or not he’s spending the next two months in prison for the crime of being a faithful shepherd, with the judge hearing both submissions and then ruling Friday morning in the case that has garnered international attention and has highlighted Alberta’s tyrannical and schizophrenic coronavirus shutdown restrictions.

The hearing was to determine whether or not the conditions of James’ release might be modified or removed, as presently he will only be allowed to leave prison unless he promises to not step back on Church property again. The hearing was live-streamed on WebEx and was attended by nearly 450 people, many that failed to mute their microphone upon entry into the channel, causing frequent interruptions and chatter throughout, at one point causing both lawyers some difficulty hearing and needing to pause until the disruptions were muted.

Along with the online viewers, there were dozens of supporters gathered outside the Edmonton courthouse, protesting and praying for a favorable result.

The judge in the case, Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Peter Michalyshyn, noted that Coates did not want a publication ban on the affair, an unusual move as they are normally imposed on bail hearings.

In contrast, the prosecutor requested that she not be mentioned by name and rather simply by her title, on account of her personal safety and “some security [issues] that have arisen on this matter,” an unusual request, which was granted.

Though each lawyer was given 10 minutes to speak and argue their case, the entire hearing lasted not much more than minutes. With all their arguments already submitted, Coates’s lawyer, James Kitchen with the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, spoke the bulk of the time and the prosecutor chimed in for less than a minute.

Responding to the Crown’s contention that there is a substantial likelihood of danger to the public if Coates were released, Kitchen retorted that since the church has been opened at near capacity since July and there have been no outbreaks or superspreader events linked to his congregation, that this is substantial proof that Coates is no danger to Albertans. “He’s not going to hurt anybody, the only thing that will happen is he holds church again.”

Kitchen said it should be determined whether Coates’s charter rights are being violated before he is jailed, remarking: “We are putting the cart before the horse, doing things backwards.” Further, even if he was convicted of what he’s accused of, it wouldn’t even be a jailable offense, so why would it be a jailable offense now?

While the Crown was saying that it would undermine the justice system if they were to release Coates without what amounts to a restraining order from his church, prohibiting him from pastoring his flock, Kitchen described that as completely inverted.

He said that for normal people, it is the incarceration of a Christian minister that undermines the justice system, not the other way around, explaining, “Imposing upon a pastor the condition of his release that he not pastor…that is an embarrassment to the courts,” as well as “a stain on the administration of justice.”

Kitchen told the judge that the undertaking Coates was asked to sign was a violation of his religious beliefs. He said his client didn’t sign the undertaking because of a basic “inability to agree to the condition of release that was imposed upon him,” and that Coates ought to be released without condition.

This is a matter of deep-seeded personal conscience and religious beliefs for Pastor Coates. He is unable to disobey the God he believes in. He is compelled to obey…as [are] his congregants.

As for the Crown, since most of what Kitchen was speaking against were previous submissions, she was generally inactive throughout the affair. She made a short submission saying the original justice of the peace made no errors, and again that releasing him would be a danger to the public, saying, “The one condition that was imposed is directly related to the behaviors that come under the prohibition of the Public Health Act orders.”

Categories
Breaking Church Featured News

Breaking! Pastor James Coates Trial set for May 3

Update #1. Friday the 26th has been confirmed for the conditions hearing. If the conditions are not waived, he will spend the next three months in prison.

Pastor James Coates’ trial has been scheduled for May 3rd before Stony Plain provincial court judge Charles Gardner, according to a decision handed down today. Coates did not appear in person in the courtroom as the date of the three-day trial was announced.

The next phase of the case will see Coates having a hearing to determine whether or not his conditions of release will be lifted. The current conditions prohibit him from stepping back onto church property, effectively handing him a restraining order against the church he pastors at and the flock he leads. He has so far not consented to these tyrannical impositions, resulting in more than a week in prison.

According to the Winnipeg Free Press, “John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, the organization representing Coates, said lawyer James Kitchen plans to file an application with the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench seeking the pastor’s release until the trial begins.”

Absent a bid to have the conditions of his release overturned, this ensures that unless he agrees to them at this point, or the crown prosecutor chooses to lay them aside, then the Gracelife Church pastor will remain incarcerated until the summer.

His lawyer, James Kitchen from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms was hoping for the early date, while the Crown wanted the trial in late June. With the May 3-5 date set, this means he will like spend nearly three months incarcerated.

Furthermore, with the church still choosing to remain open past the 15% capacity allowed under the shutdown, Gracelife is still firmly in the crosshairs of the Alberta Health Services who are seeking to shut them down and discontinue their gathering.

As a result, further Sunday services may result in the Associate Pastor being fined or likewise arrested. Or law enforcement officials will begin handing out $1200 fines to any congregants who step foot on Church property, with even another possibility that they will simply physically bar anyone from attending services and stepping on Church property.

On Saturday, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Edmonton Remand Center, the maximum-security prison where Coates is being kept, worshiping the Lord, praying, and rallying either for his release or for the supposedly devout Roman Catholic Premier of Alberta, Jason Kenny, revise his strict lockdown rules imposed on Churches and let the pastors of the province open up their churches.

This past Sunday, Pastor John MacArthur who is the Chancellor and Professor of Pastoral Ministry at The Master’s Seminary, the school where James Coates graduated from years ago, publicly prayed for him and his congregation, as well as released a statement of support on him.

This is a developing story….

Categories
Church Coronavirus Featured News Righteous Defiance

John MacArthur to Battle in Court Tomorrow: This is What’s Going Down

John MacArthur, the Senior Pastor at Grace Community Church (GCC) in Sun Valley, California, is scheduled to be in court tomorrow to discuss his upcoming contempt charges and trial stemming from the church’s decision to defy a court order insisting they shut down indoor services in order to comply with Governor Gavin Newsom’s COVID-19 lockdown restriction.

Instead of submitting to the government’s will, the church deliberately continued to have church services, despite being ordered not to and disregarding a September 10 injunction. The County wants them to be found in contempt for flouting the injunction. The church argues that the injunction was granted on the faulty premise of an unconstitutional order, and should have rightly been ignored.

On September 24th, Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff ruled against LA county for the fifth time. Rather than adjudicate the contempt charges, GCC lawyers argued that MacArthur and GCC were first entitled to a full-blown trial on the merits of their lawsuit challenging Gavin Newsom’s shutdown orders, proposing that “a final determination on the constitutionality of the orders must occur before the County could seek contempt against MacArthur for merely holding church.”

The judge was persuaded and agreed. Special Counsel Jenna Ellis explains in a statement from the Thomas More Society:

This is significant because no person can or should be held in contempt of a constitutionally invalid order. Los Angeles County continues to presume that its order is valid, with utter disregard for First Amendment protections. It’s tyranny to even suggest that a government action cannot be challenged and must be obeyed without question. This case goes to the heart of what our founders designed for the purpose of legitimate government—not to be above the rule of law. Pastor MacArthur is simply holding church, which is clearly his constitutionally protected right in this country.

It was a brilliant tactic. With LA’s Superior Court suspending civil trials the rest of the year, this decision effectively let GCC continue holding services for months without being bothered- at least until January 2021 at the earliest. Though it cost the church substantially in legal fees, it guaranteed them the freedom to have their services unimpeded.

The court date tomorrow then is to discuss the extent, scope, and merits of the trial. When it is scheduled to start. How long it will last. What it will cover, and who will be deposed.

One specific matter of contention is the deposition list. Lawyers for GCC are seeking the depositions of LA County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis and one of their supervisors, Sheila Kuehl. County lawyers argue that such information is not needed, preferring to only have the case assessed on the merits of the contempt of the injunction.

In their court papers, GCC lawyers want to ask Davis to “explain in detail why you have not sought a temporary restraining order against any political protesters or protest organizers,” and have him elaborate on why the church was seemingly singled out, and why Davis specifically sought an injunction rather than fines or citations. They state:

Plaintiffs have refused to produce Dr. Muntu Davis for a deposition, despite him being a named plaintiff and the signatory to a key declaration. By so doing, plaintiffs attempt to render themselves the finder of fact on the issue of contempt and to strip defendants of any ability to effectively defend themselves.

The same thing goes for Kuehl. The church’s attorneys want to ask about “any and all actions taken by the County of Los Angeles against Grace Community Church of the Valley, including evidence regarding the basis, motivation, and reasons for such actions.” The County lawyers, however, are supremely opposed to this, arguing:

Defendants’ attempt to kick the can down the road until after a trial on the merits should be rejected. The contempt proceeding should proceed now and should be limited to defendants’ challenges … as to whether this court exceeded its jurisdiction in issuing the preliminary injunction order, i.e., whether the order is void on its face.

As things happen behind the scenes, there has been no further comment from MacArthur about the trial since the 81-year-old pastor took a break from preaching duties on October 5th, following his long-standing habit of taking about a month off each year.

Categories
Evangelical Stuff Featured News Social Justice Wars

Trump’s Lawyer Curb-stomps Karen Swallow Prior

We’ve written for you before about Karen Swallow Prior, how we continually find ourselves vexed and mystified that she’s viewed so favorably and regarded as conservative within Christian circles, despite the plethora of problems with her. The list is extensive and has been enumerated below.

Fortuitously, Prior recently found herself the victim of a verbal “mark-and-avoid” beatdown when Jenna Ellis, one of President’s Trump’s lawyers and also the special counsel representing John MacArthur and Grace Community Church’s struggle to stay open, took a potshot at her after Prior was caught complaining about someone justifying the Trump-loving caravan that escorted the Biden campaign bus out of Texas.

Displaying more discernment than the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed #BigEva elites who see nothing amiss with Prior’s theological proclivities, Ellis gets in another “name names” kick to the ribs for good measure.

With being called out by Ellis as a flaming troll and embittered progressive, and learning that President Trump retweeted Al Mohler’s support for the President, the sound of the veins pulsing in her forehead and the shrieking “REEEEEEEEEEE!” could be heard halfway across the country.

Promised enumerations below:

Categories
Church Featured News

Judge Rules John MacArthur’s GCC Can Have Indoor Services: Church Agrees to Wear Masks and Socially Distance

A California Court has ruled that John MacArthur and Grace Community Church have a constitutionally protected right to remain open and hold indoor services in their sanctuary, upholding the church’s stance that they are indeed essential, but also imposing some restrictions for mask-wearing and social distancing, which GCC indicated they will comply with.

According to a press released by Grace Community Church

Hours after Grace Community Church filed suit to invalidate Los Angeles County’s unconstitutional restrictions on churches, the County filed for a temporary restraining order to force the church to stop holding indoor services and comply with every unreasonable and over-broad demand. At hearing today in Los Angeles Superior Court, Judge James Chalfant denied almost all of the County’s requests, agreeing with Pastor MacArthur and the Church that it is the County’s burden to show why it should be permitted to infringe on the constitutionally protected rights of churches to freely exercise religion. The judge did also express concern for some safety protocols.

To address those concerns and after explaining that the County was being unreasonable in its demands, counsel for Grace Community Church offered to comply with mask wearing and social distancing indoors until the matter could be fully heard, rather than the County simply rushing to shut down the Church. The judge agreed this was reasonable, set the full hearing for September 4, 2020, and ordered the Church to have congregants wear masks and social distance between family groups indoors.

Pastor MacArthur said he was pleased with the ruling, commenting

“I am very grateful the Court has allowed us to meet inside and we are happy for a few weeks to comply and respect what the judge has asked of us because he is allowing us to meet. This vindicates our desire to stay open and serve our people. This also gives us an opportunity to show that we are not trying to be rebellious or unreasonable, but that we will stand firm to protect our church against unreasonable, unconstitutional restrictions.”

The church’s lawyer, Charles LiMandri, said:

“This result is indeed a great victory for all citizens’ constitutional right to freedom of religion. Pastor MacArthur’s love of God and country motivated him and all the GCC church elders to resist the unjust government shut-down orders targeting people of faith. Their devotion and patriotism has brought about a result that respects the legitimate interests of both the church and state. This result makes it possible for the thousands of congregants of GCC to continue to gather together in their church to worship, while at the same time honoring the court’s requirement that reasonable and temporary safety measures be observed. This court ruling should stay in effect at least until there can be a full court hearing in this case on September 4, 2020. Please continue to pray that the courts allow this enlightened judge’s decision to stand so that all Californians can soon resume the worship of God in their respective churches.”

Categories
Church Coronavirus Featured

Pastor John MacArthur and GCC Represented by All-Star Legal Team

The Thomas More Society announced in a press release that “nationally renowned attorneys Jenna Ellis and Charles LiMandri will represent Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, California, as Special Counsel.”

Grace has been the target of unconstitutional religious discrimination by the City of Los Angeles and the State of California, amid the state’s order to cease in-person church assembly indefinitely after they launched an in-person service to a packed crowd two weeks ago, drastically exceeding restrictions placed on houses of worship having indoor services.

We wrote about John MacArthur’s decision to shut down HERE and released a barn-burner of a podcast offering support and criticism of the timing of Graces’ eventual decision to open HERE.

The Thomas More Society has taken on the case in response to the city of Los Angeles issuing a cease and desist letter that threatened Grace Community Church and Pastor MacArthur specifically with a daily fine of $1000 or arrest.

The Thomas More Society is a “not-for-profit, national public interest law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and religious liberty” and has argued all the way up to the Supreme Court.

They have assisted “thousands of clients including some of the nation’s most renowned pro-life and religious leaders: David Daleiden, David Bereit, 40 Days for Life, Lila Rose and Live Action, and many more.”

According to the press release, of the two lawyers:

Jenna Ellis is a constitutional law attorney, Senior Fellow at the Falkirk Center for Faith & Liberty, and an allied attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom. She is the senior legal adviser to the Trump 2020 campaign, private counsel to President Donald Trump, and served on his legal team for the 2020 impeachment trial. She regularly contributes to national media on television and print as a legal analyst.

Charles LiMandri is a constitutional law attorney, religious freedom expert, and Special Counsel for the Thomas More Society. He began the Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund in 2012 and has litigated high-profile cases in California for decades, including the ACLU’s effort to remove the Mount Soledad Cross and San Diego’s effort to force firefighters to participate in a gay pride parade against their sincerely held religious beliefs.