Pubdate: Fri, 16 Nov 2001 Source: Record, The (CA) Copyright: 2001 The Record Contact: http://www.recordnet.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/428 Author: Francis P. Garland Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) CHURCH FOUNDER SUES CALAVERAS COUNTY Northern Lights Alleges Civil Rights Violations ANGELS CAMP -- The founder and head of a controversial Calaveras County church claims the county violated his and his church's civil rights by requiring him to obtain a business license laden with conditions -- including one that forbade him to hold services and another that precluded him from erecting a cross. The Rev. David A. Jack, founder and head of Northern Lights Church, filed a lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court in Fresno. The lawsuit names the county, members of the Board of Supervisors and a county planner as defendants. The county had not responded to the lawsuit by Thursday. Neither County Counsel Spencer Batchelder nor Lucy Thein, chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors and one of the named defendants, would comment on the suit. A scheduling conference has been set for 9 a.m. Feb. 5 before federal Magistrate Dennis Beck. The church has come under scrutiny since August 2000, when sheriff's deputies raided the church's Burson location, from which it has since moved, and found nearly 300 marijuana plants, growing equipment and other items. The church's religious beliefs include the use of cannabis as a sacrament. Marijuana-cultivation charges were filed against the Rev. Ricky Dewayne Garner, 43, and the Rev. Sue Melinda Garner, 40, who at the time were Northern Lights Church ministers but no longer are affiliated with it. The Garners said they were growing marijuana for their own medical use and for a number of other medical-marijuana patients. The Garners pleaded guilty to misdemeanor marijuana possession and were placed on two years' informal probation. Just last week, however, law enforcement agents conducted a probation search and seized 67 plants. District Attorney Jeffrey Tuttle said Thursday that he likely will seek to revoke the Garners' probation but hasn't decided to file new cultivation charges. Jack and the Northern Lights Church, which is without a home base, are seeking general, special and punitive damages as well as a judgment declaring unconstitutional a county ordinance that requires churches to be licensed. Batchelder said he doesn't believe churches are required to obtain business licenses. Yet a county ordinance states that nonprofit enterprises, which include religious endeavors, are required to obtain business licenses but are not required to pay fees. Jack and the church also are seeking relief from what they call "unlawful and discriminatory laws and ordinances." According to the complaint, the county Planning Department placed several conditions on Jack before he could obtain his business license, including banning him from holding church services. Another condition precluded Jack from altering the property in such a way that it would appear to be housing a business. Jack said he was told he could not erect a cross, because it would violate that condition. John Anderson, a county planner named as a defendant, said Thursday that conditions were placed on the license because the church was conducted its business in a residential area. He said he did not recall church services being discussed. "To have a church there, you would need a use permit under the zoning laws," he said. Anderson said Jack sought a business license to "sell religious items." Eventually, Jack obtained the license but did not conduct services at the church for fear of violating the county law. The license expired at the end of last year, and Jack did not renew it. Jack said in the complaint that members of other churches told him they were not required to obtain business licenses and had not been subjected to the restrictions and conditions placed upon Northern Lights. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth