During the days of the pandemic religious leaders were told to do many things to inhibit the spreading of the coronavirus, including closing the doors of their churches. Most obliged the orders of their state and local governments, while a few did not. One of those ministers who refused was John MacArthur, the senior pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA. MacArthur believed that his constitutional rights had been violated, so he sued and his case went all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court ruled in his favor and ordered the State of California and the County of Los Angeles to pay him $400,000.
Constitutions still matter. As Bill Barr, the former U.S. Attorney General said, “The Constitution is not suspended in times of crisis.” He was right.
So, when smallpox came to the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts back in 1902, the Board of Health mandated the vaccination of all of its citizens. When a citizen named Jacobson refused to get a free vaccination from the city, he sued and his case went all the way up to the U.S.
