US Capital Settles Case With Local Church Over COVID-19 Restrictions - Court Filing

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th July, 2021) The Washington, DC city government has agreed to pay $220,000 to the Capitol Hill Baptist Church (CHBC) to settle a lawsuit challenging coronavirus-related restrictions that limited religious gatherings to 100 people, court documents revealed.

"The District agrees that it will not enforce any current or future COVID-19 restrictions to prohibit CHBC from gathering as one congregation in the District of Colombia. ... the District agrees to pay the two hundred twenty thousand Dollars ($220,000) (the Settlement Amount) to plaintiff's counsel," the court documents said on Thursday.

Under the settlement, the city agreed that any new restrictions on religious services due to the coronavirus would not be more restrictive than those imposed on other "comparable secular activities, as defined by the Supreme Court."

The Trump administration supported the church's lawsuit after the Washington, DC government expressed favorable treatment for political mass protests in the city during the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.