December 21, 2001

Calaveras Enterprise

by Craig Koscho

Claiming Calaveras County has deprived his church of the constitutional right to freedom of religion, the Rev.  David Jack is taking the county to court.

He's filed a complaint in Fresno's U.S.  District Court, and believes his church was singled out because of its belief that marijuana is a sacrament.

The Northern Lights Church first made the news when two of its former ministers, the Revs.  Ricky and Sue Garner, were arrested in October, 2000 on charges of cultivating 287 marijuana plants at their five-acre parcel on Southworth Road, near Wallace, where the church also was located.

Following that action, authorities said the church, located in a residential building on the Garners' property, needed a business license, but Jack said the county threw up so many roadblocks it made it impossible to proceed.

In the complaint, Jack states the county not only deprived the church of freedom of religion, but also violated constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure and equal protection under the law.

The complaint does not specify damages.  Jack said he would leave that up to a jury.

"Really what I was looking for was to allow our church to operate and hold services and we're being prohibited from doing that," he said.

According to a Business License Clearance Form issued by the county Planning Department on Nov.  6, 2000, the residential building could be used as an office only.  No "customers" were to come to the home and the applicant was required to reside at the site.

In addition, there was to be no alteration, addition or new construction that would give the property the appearance of housing a business.

Jack said this effectively prohibited them from holding services at the home, or even putting up a cross.

Questions regarding the complaint were referred to County Counsel Skip Batchelder, who has yet to receive a copy of the suit.  He said county law requires non-profit groups, such as churches, to have a business license, but there is no charge or fee.

Do the county's many other churches have the required license?

"I assume they have, but I can't verify that," Batchelder said.

Jack questions whether many other churches have such a license, and he also says county regulations state that licensed churches are subject to law enforcement searches at any time.  That, says Jack, is a violation of the separation of church and state.

As for restrictions on the home church, Jack pointed out that many churches begin life in private homes before building their own facilities.  He added that the immediate area contains many other small businesses, including a chicken ranch, a trucking business and a feed and grain store.

Jack believes his church's stand on marijuana, and the public's misconception of that position, is at the root of its problems.  The Northern Lights Church accepts cannabis, or marijuana, as a sacrament, and Jack emphasized that does not mean the parishioners get high to be closer to God.

Rather, said Jack, the belief stems from Genesis 1:29, which states that God gave humanity all fruit and herb bearing plants and trees "and all vegetation, so that they may be food for you .  .  ."

Cannabis, said Jack, can solve a myriad of social and ecological problems because it can be used to make cloth and paper and help heal sick people.

The seed has the same protein and fatty acids as soy beans, said Jack, and can be used for shampoos, body lotions, even fuel.  "We have reverence for this plant," said Jack.

At one time the church had 150 pledges people who donate to the effort and had between 25 and 30 people attending services.

Since his problems with the county, Jack has suspended services and let the building lease lapse.

"We have a congregation that is being denied their free spiritual expression," said Jack.  "I find it appalling." A court hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for March.