Bob Unruh huffed in an April 2 WorldNetDaily article:
A state judge in Florida has been sued for violating the U.S. Constitution with an injunction that barred congregants of Coastal Family Church from holding church, and threatening them with contempt citations if they did.
Liberty Counsel foundation Mat Staver, whose organization was in the fight on behalf of the church, warned, “The U.S. Constitution leaves no room for court orders that operate as prior restraints on religious worship. When a judge issues an order that suppresses First Amendment freedoms, federal courts have both the authority and the obligation to intervene.
“Every additional day that this injunction remains in force deepens the constitutional harm on Coastal Family Church and its congregation. The U.S. Constitution and Florida laws are clear that Coastal Family Church has the right to hold church services on church property and that restrictive covenants cannot ban religious assembly. This injunction must be overturned,” he said.
It’s not until the third-to-last paragraph that Unruh gets around to mentioning the actual issue: a breach of contract, not First Amendment rights. As a less biased news source notes:
The case at first blush appears to be a stunning abridgement of the right of assembly. It is, in fact, a more prosaic case of private-property covenants and contract law, and of very common covenant restrictions that typically apply and are complied with in many strip and other malls. One of those covenants at Flagler Square forbids spaces from being used for large assemblies or churches, regardless of the owner of the property.
[…]The judge, in a plainspoken but unambiguous order that reflects the cut-and-dried language of contract law, noted that the church organization “was on constructive, specific and direct notice that public assemblies were not permissible.” The judge ruled that “it is undisputed that the covenant runs with the land, that public assemblies are prohibited and [Coastal Church] is hosting public assemblies.”
Flagler Square is controlled by covenants, or “declarations.” “All provisions of the Declaration shall be construed to be perpetual covenants running with the Land,” the declaration states, meaning that even if a unit is sold, the conditions still apply. One of the conditions that apply to the space Palmer bought is that it may not be used as a “banquet hall, auditorium or other place of public assembly,” such as a church.
It’s a common condition attached to strip malls, because, a real estate broker noted to Coastal Church officials in November 2024, “Aside from the parking nightmare that a house of worship cause [sic], it creates a dark hole in the center, as it brings no conducive retail traffic to a center.” To Flagler Square, the church knew, going in, that restrictions on the use of the space applied.
Instead of explaining that it’s an issue of contract law, not the Constitution, Unruh glossed over the actual issue at hand:
The church, located in the Flagler Square strip mall, has been sued by its property association, Flagler Square – JAX, Inc., over alleged parking congestion and a condominium covenant that the association interprets as prohibiting “public assembly,” the legal team said.
“Despite no evidence of parking problems, the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court issued the injunction. Since then, the property management company has used police to ensure the church abided by the injunction and did not hold religious services.”
Unruh didn’t explain why he dismisses the terms of the contract the church signed.