In last week’s, RLUIPA Round-Up we reported about the case Hale v. Federal Bureau of Prisons (D. CO 2015) in which the court found that the Church of the Creator – a white supremacist movement that advocates “total racial...more
Below are news items from the past week involving local government, religion, and land use that may be of interest to our readers.
- The New York Times reports that the Ten Commandments monument on the Oklahoma Capitol...more
10/12/2015
/ Churches ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
OK Supreme Court ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Displays ,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ,
Religious Institutions ,
Religious Schools ,
RLUIPA ,
Special Use Permit ,
Zoning Laws
A federal court in Nevada recently dismissed a church’s claim that a music festival in “Sin City” Las Vegas featuring the likes of Stevie Wonder, Duran Duran, and Twenty One Pilots burdened its religious exercise....more
On September 24, Rock Church of Easton (Rock Church) filed an “Emergency Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order and /or Preliminary Injunction” against the City of Easton, Pennsylvania (the City or Easton) and its Bureau of...more
10/8/2015
/ Affordable Housing ,
Building Codes ,
Building Inspectors ,
Churches ,
Community Development ,
Construction Industry ,
Demolition ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Institutions ,
Restraining Orders ,
RLUIPA
Below are news items from the past week involving local government, religion, and land use that have caught our attention.
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York has issued a Memorandum and...more
10/5/2015
/ Catholic Church ,
Catholic Diocese ,
Churches ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Establishment Clause ,
Freedom From Religion Foundation ,
Marijuana ,
Motion To Reconsider ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Displays ,
Religious Institutions ,
Religious Schools ,
RLUIPA ,
Summary Judgment
In June 2014, Plaintiff Hope Rising Community Church sought to establish a place of worship in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania. According to its complaint, Pastor Harry Hoff met with Penn Hill’s planning and code enforcement...more
A federal court in Illinois, in Church of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ v. City of Markham, Illinois (N.D. Ill. 2015), dismissed some of the Church’s religious land use claims while allowing others to proceed. The case is...more
8/25/2015
/ Burwell v Hobby Lobby ,
Churches ,
Conditional Use Permit ,
First Amendment ,
Free Exercise Clause ,
Hobby Lobby ,
Open Meetings Act ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ,
Religious Institutions ,
RLUIPA ,
SCOTUS
A Phoenix federal court recently issued a decision that may be of interest to local governments for two reasons. First, the case, Salman v. City of Phoenix (D. AZ 2015), is notable for its finding that RLUIPA claims cannot...more
Religion Clause Blog reports that Indiana’s First Church of Cannabis is using the state’s recently enacted religious freedom law to protect its founder and two members from prosecution for possession of marijuana. The Church...more
7/13/2015
/ American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) ,
Churches ,
Controlled Substances ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Discrimination ,
DOMA ,
Drug Possession ,
Equal Protection ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Freedom From Religion Foundation ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Marijuana ,
Marriage Equality ,
Prayer ,
Religion ,
Religious Institutions ,
RLUIPA ,
Same-Sex Marriage
Independence Day—no better time to reflect on the numerous (enumerated and unenumerated) rights protected by our United States Constitution. Thanks to Obergefell v. Hodges, those rights are now more clearly focused. However,...more
7/3/2015
/ Churches ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Marriage ,
Marriage Equality ,
Obergefell v. Hodges ,
Permits ,
Religious Accommodation ,
RLUIPA ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
Zoning Laws
The Danbury Zoning Board of Appeals denied a church’s application for variances to develop an 18-acre parcel with a house of worship and priest residence. Now, Danbury could join the list of Connecticut municipalities that...more
Last week, we reported on the potential impact of Reed v. Gilbert, the sign regulation case that has municipalities across the nation concerned about the enforceability of local sign ordinances. This week, we’re happy to...more
7/1/2015
/ Churches ,
Commercial Speech ,
Content-Neutral ,
First Amendment ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Local Ordinance ,
Municipalities ,
Reed v Town of Gilbert ,
RLUIPA ,
Signs ,
Zoning Laws
Coral Springs, Florida may allow Satanist Chaz Stevens to begin a City Commission meeting with an invocation honoring Satan in September or October. However, Mayor Skip Campbell will first meet with commission members to...more
Although the case is outside the RLUIPA realm or even specific to religious-based speech, the Supreme Court’s decision last week in Reed v. Gilbert will undoubtedly impact RLUIPA Defense readers. We previously reported on the...more
Earlier this year, we reported that the dispute between Jacksonville Beach, Florida and the Church of Our Savior continued to boil in mediation, with attorneys’ fees nearing $700K. After finding that Jacksonville violated...more
We bring you more interesting news from the world of land use, religion and government:
The Chicago Tribune reports that the Village of La Grange, Illinois Planning Commission is considering a proposed zoning code...more
This week, RLUIPA Defense continues its effort to aggregate important new stories reflecting the intersection of religion, land use and local government.
Indiana’s First Church of Cannabis in Indianapolis – Indiana’s...more
6/8/2015
/ American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) ,
Churches ,
Conditional Use Permit ,
Exempt Organizations ,
First Amendment ,
IRS ,
Marijuana ,
Prayer ,
Public Funds ,
Public Meetings ,
RLUIPA ,
Tax Exempt Entities
Welcome to the inaugural edition of RLUIPA Round-Up, where we run through recent religious land use disputes and other matters involving local government and religion throughout the country. Some of the items below include...more
Every so often RLUIPA Defense feels the need to expand its reporting horizons. We usually stick to run-of-the-mill, pending or threatened litigation related to religious-land uses and RLUIPA. Sometimes we stray a bit and...more
Liberty Baptist Church, a Kansas church founded in 1947 with a congregation of about 15 members (Church), is suing the Board of County Commissioners of Crawford County, Kansas over the denial of its application for a...more
In Holy Ghost Revival Ministries v. City of Marysville (W.D. Washington), the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington considered claims of religious discrimination brought by Holy Ghost Revival Ministries...more
The City of Dallas is suing Congregation Toras Chaim, Inc. (“CTC”), a small Jewish Orthodox synagogue that operates out of a private residential home, to enforce the City’s local code and require the synagogue to obtain a...more
We previously reported on the lawsuit filed by Harbor Missionary Church against San Buenaventura, California involving the City’s denial of a conditional use permit to allow the Church to continue to operate a soup kitchen in...more
Late last year, a federal court in Florida issued a decision in favor of Church of Our Savior, which wished to build a place of worship on Beach Boulevard (“Property”) in Jacksonville Beach, Florida....more
Last summer, we reported that the U.S. Supreme Court granted Good News Community Church’s (Church) petition for a writ of certiorari to review the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Reed v. Town of...more