Charles S. LiMandri

LiMandri has been litigating to support religious liberty and Christian values for about 18 years. He achieved his most significant victory in early February when the U.S. Supreme Court told the state of California it could not prohibit all indoor church services during the pandemic. South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom, 141 S.Ct. 716 (2021)

All the more remarkable was that the court’s 6-3 ruling effectively reversed its 5-4 decision nine months earlier that left the state’s ban in place. LiMandri and colleagues filed suit for the church on May 8 last year, less than two months after Gov. Newsom’s broad stay-at-home order. Their high court victory arrived May 29.

He acknowledged that one reason for the different result in February was Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s appointment to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Another reason was nine months of incessant activity, LiMandri said. During that time, his team presented evidence “showing that religious services were not a source of super-spreader events as the state had previously represented.”

The case finally wrapped up June 1 when the district court judge permanently enjoined the state from restricting the capacity of religious services statewide, except in special circumstances.“We feel on balance our position was vindicated not just legally but scientifically. … And we have constitutional First Amendment protection,” he said. “That’s what ultimately carried the day”

An experienced civil litigator who boasts several multimillion-dollar wins and membership in ABOTA, LiMandri began taking on religious liberty cases in about 2004 when he volunteered to represent San Diego pro bono in the long-running dispute over the large cross atop Mt. Soledad.

He still spends about half his time on more ordinary litigation, while continuing the religion-related work under the auspices of a Chicago-based nonprofit, the Thomas More Society.

Current matters include representing an Orthodox priest opposed to same-sex marriage who is suing an LGBTQ activist for defamation, parents and community members upset by the San Diego school board’s decision to rename Junipero Serra High School, and more church-capacity cases. “So the saga of these churches still goes on,” LiMandri said.

For one church, he achieved an $800,000 settlement Aug. 31 with L.A. County and the state on behalf of controversial Sun Valley pastor John MacArthur, who has refused to follow any indoor worship limitations.

— Don DeBenedictis