The Board of Examiners on Tuesday approved a $175,000 settlement with the Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley in Dayton, essentially agreeing to pay the church’s legal costs incurred in its battle over COVID-19 attendance restrictions.
The church went to court protesting Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 50-person cap on indoor religious gatherings. Their lawyers argued it was unconstitutional to treat religious gatherings more harshly than secular gatherings such as casinos.
Indoor religious gatherings were subject to a cap of 50 churchgoers while attendance limits at many businesses including casinos were based on a percentage of the buildings' fire-code capacities.
Lawyers for the church argued that was unconstitutional and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco agreed in December that the state can’t treat casinos and other businesses more favorably than churches.
