US church sues California county over alleged spying

A church in Northern California filed a lawsuit this month against neighborhood authorities in Santa Clara County, alleging that its participants have been targeted for spying all through pandemic regulations.

According to The Christian Post, member attorneys of Advocates for Faith and Freedom, who practice instances regarding non secular freedom and speech inside the US, filed the lawsuit in a California courtroom on behalf of Calvary Chapel San Jose Church against the county.

They declare government might have used a geo-monitoring mechanism against church members whilst it remained open no matter Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.

At the height of the pandemic inside the United States, the church, that's now known as Calvary Christian Fellowship (CCF), and its pastor, Mike McClure, went in opposition to the social distancing orders in pressure in California and resumed in-character non secular activities. Because of this, each ended up being sued in contempt courtroom and fined for violating courtroom orders banning in-individual worship services in 2020 and 2021.

Advocates for Faith and Freedom alleges on this lawsuit filed in opposition to Santa Clara County that, further to the lawsuit filed against the church in 2020, neighborhood government additionally carried out a “geo-fencing operation” in opposition to church participants, and that this action it became finished irregularly and unnecessarily, as not all businesses and local entities had been issue to the identical surveillance.

Furthermore, the entity argues that the county did no longer attain a court order to carry out such tracking operations on church participants.

In a statement released Wednesday, Pastor McClure stated the lawsuit is not most effective meant to help his congregation, however seeks to “constitute all church buildings throughout the u . S . That have suffered from comparable cases across the u . S ..”

“Our commitment is to the rights and privacy of all our members,” said McClure. He in addition said that “we're protecting now not handiest the rights of our religious community, but also the rights of religious people across the united states”.

Mariah Gondeiro, vice president and criminal recommend for Advocates for Faith and Freedom, said that “People of faith must in no way be involved approximately the government spying on them in places of worship. We are fighting for the rights of all spiritual ideals which have The government has been and is still a goal. This invasion of privateness violates the 4th Amendment to america Constitution and units an alarming precedent if left unaddressed. It is time to maintain Santa Clara County answerable for disrespecting the rights of Calvary Chapel participants.” .

For their element, Santa Clara County government have denied the church’s accusations of spying. In a declaration despatched to the Christian Post, they claimed the claims are “fake” and do now not reflect an understanding of the simple facts of the county’s public fitness orders or local enforcement program.