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.
