“Today, October 3, 2022, we argued our case for deprivation of civil rights before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, consisting of Judges Oldham, Elrod, and Richman. The hearing was held at Texas A & M College of Law before a house full of attorneys and law students. We kept to our argument that "Government has no jurisdiction in the church," which is based on natural law and the First Amendment. Our legal team did an excellent job. However, the extensive legal team for the governor and other defendants had no argument except, "Yes, we infringed on your constitutional rights, BUT we are immune from any punishment due to our positions as government officials under the doctrine of qualified immunity.” But they are wrong!
Qualified immunity does not give public officials immunity when they knowingly violate a person’s constitutional rights. As we await a ruling from the three-judge panel, my thoughts are that we have a predetermined victory because we stood unmovable and did not take the bait of receiving "damages for discrimination” based on equal protection. While we know we were not treated equally as required by the 14th Amendment, there is a larger issue at stake. As a church and as individuals, we have inalienable rights, especially those guaranteed by the First Amendment — Freedom of Religion and the Right to Assemble.
Those are the core issues here. We are not willing to say that this is simply about equal protection or that the Church was treated worse than Walmart. We have to stand for the principle that even if they close Walmart, then the Church has the right to assemble and worship. We’re talking here about the most fundamental rights that exists in our society. The past 2 and 1/2 years have never been about a virus, but it’s always been about a complete hostile takeover of our freedoms.
We are grateful to God to live in this great, free country and also grateful for the millions of saints and Americans who stand with us across the United States.”
-Pastor Tony Spell
We await a ruling to see if we will proceed with a jury on this case.
To learn more about the events of the last 2.5 years, visit www.LTCBR.com/news
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