The City of Brier, Washington (City) has prevailed over claims that it violated the Religious Land Use & Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) and other federal law in a dispute over a variance application to construct a...more
Last month, Bergen Rockland Eruv Association, Inc. (BREA) sued the Township of Mahwah, New Jersey regarding a dispute over the expansion of an eruv. According to the complaint, “[a]n eruv, under Jewish law, is a largely...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has affirmed the decision of the Northern District of Illinois, finding against a faith-based recovery home’s claims of religious discrimination and Fair Housing Act...more
Last year, we reported about a case in which the city of St. Michael, Minnesota utilized RLUIPA’s “safe harbor” provision to avoid liability under the act’s substantial burden and equal terms provisions. While the federal...more
The recent confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has brought renewed attention to the often blurry line between the courts, government and individual religious liberty. Gorsuch wrote a concurring opinion in the...more
4/21/2017
/ Churches ,
Establishment Clause ,
Judicial Appointments ,
Land-Use Permits ,
Local Ordinance ,
Municipalities ,
Neil Gorsuch ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Institutions ,
RLUIPA ,
Wastewater ,
Zoning Laws
Earlier this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a district court’s issuance of a temporary restraining order prohibiting the enforcement of Executive Order 13769 – “Protecting The Nation From...more
2/21/2017
/ Appeals ,
Burwell v Hobby Lobby ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discrimination ,
Due Process ,
Equal Protection ,
Establishment Clause ,
Executive Orders ,
First Amendment ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Free Exercise Clause ,
Government Investigations ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Political Campaigns ,
Refugees ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ,
Restraining Orders ,
RLUIPA ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration
Thou shall have the right to an electronic sign? Apparently not. Just over a year ago, Hillside Baptist Church and Signs for Jesus (together, Plaintiffs or Church) filed a complaint in the District Court for New Hampshire,...more
2/13/2017
/ Aesthetic Functionality ,
Article III ,
First Amendment ,
Free Exercise Clause ,
Free Speech ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Displays ,
Religious Institutions ,
RLUIPA ,
Standing ,
Traffic Laws ,
Zoning Laws
Following some last minute hand-wringing, nearly a year of hearings and deliberations by the Zoning Board of Appeals (“ZBA”) and accusations of religious bias, the Town of Dudley agreed to a deal that would allow a proposed...more
A federal court in Pennsylvania has denied Bensalem Township’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the United States Department of Justice challenging the Township’s denial of a use variance for a mosque. The lawsuit...more
Recently, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals entered an order upholding the district court’s decision in the case of Tearpock-Martini v. Shickshinny Borough, which we reported on last summer. The case involved an...more
The Missouri Court of Appeals has ruled that the Kansas City, Missouri, Board of Adjustment abused its discretion in failing to grant a variance to Antioch Community Church (Church) to install digital components into its...more
1/16/2017
/ Appeals ,
Commercial Speech ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Displays ,
Religious Expression ,
Religious Institutions ,
RLUIPA ,
Variances ,
Zoning Laws
Earlier this month, the U.S. Justice Department (“DOJ”) filed suit in District Court for the Western District of Virginia against the Culpeper County Virginia Board of Supervisors alleging it acted in a discriminatory manor...more
The City of Port Jervis, New York has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) alleging that the City’s revision to its zoning code violated the Religious Land Use &...more
Take a break from the sales and give the Round-Up a read:
ABC Channel 9 in Sioux City reports on a US Justice Department inquiry into the proposed siting of Our Savior Lutheran Church in a former Budweiser warehouse in...more
11/28/2016
/ Churches ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Identity ,
LGBTQ ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Public Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Institutions ,
Restroom Legislation ,
RLUIPA ,
Transgender ,
Variances ,
Zoning Laws
Earlier this year, the Thai Meditation Association of Alabama and several individual plaintiffs (“the Center”) filed suit against the City of Mobile, Alabama (“the City”), alleging that the denial of its application to...more
In 2011, Pittsfield Charter Township denied, allegedly without deliberation, Michigan Islamic Academy’s (“MIA”) application to rezone a 26 acre parcel (the “Property”) to allow the development of a pre-K through grade 12...more
A brewing dispute in Yonkers, NY has led the Islamic Community Center for Mid Westchester (ICCMW) to allege that Yonkers violated ICCMW’s rights under RLUIPA, and the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States...more
The Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN) recently filed a federal complaint and request for declaratory judgment against the State of Tennessee, the Metropolitan Trustee of Nashville, and the Tennessee State Board of...more
In an important decision for municipalities across the country, a federal court in Minnesota has recently ruled that actions taken under RLUIPA’s “safe harbor” provision absolved a local government of possible RLUIPA...more
9/23/2016
/ Churches ,
Conditional Use Permit ,
First Amendment ,
Free Exercise Clause ,
Moratorium ,
Municipalities ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Institutions ,
RLUIPA ,
Safe Harbors ,
Summary Judgment ,
Zoning Laws
In January of this year, Yeshiva Gedola Na’os Yaakov, Inc. (the “Yeshiva”) filed a 79-page complaint in federal court against the Township of Ocean, New Jersey, and the Township’s Zoning Board of Adjustment (the “Township)...more
9/14/2016
/ Attorney's Fees ,
Certificates of Occupancy ,
Damages ,
Educational Institutions ,
First Amendment ,
Jurisdiction ,
Mediation ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Institutions ,
Religious Schools ,
Reversal ,
RLUIPA ,
Variances
This summer, we reported that Genoa Charter Township prevailed in a lawsuit filed by Livingston Christian Schools (LSC), which claimed that the Township violated RLUIPA’s substantial burden provision, the First Amendment to...more
9/13/2016
/ Attorney's Fees ,
Due Process ,
Educational Institutions ,
First Amendment ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Institutions ,
Religious Schools ,
RLUIPA ,
Special Use Permit ,
Substantial Burden ,
Summary Judgment
Newton County, Georgia has imposed a moratorium on religious uses following the planned construction of a mosque and cemetery. The Al Maad Al Islami Inc., a Doraville mosque, purchased 135 acres at the corner of 162 and...more
The Thai Meditation Association of Alabama and several individual plaintiffs (the “Center”) have filed suit against the City of Mobile, Alabama, its Planning Commission, and City Council (“Mobile”) after the Center was...more
In the RLUIPA Round-Up post, we noted that the City of Sterling Heights, Michigan, is facing a federal lawsuit following its denial of the American Islamic Community Center’s (Center) zoning application to build a 20,500...more
We noted in our previous post that the U.S. Department of Justice, in its latest report, has stated that one of the biggest trends in religious land use disputes since 2010 has been the drastic increase in disputes involving...more