On December 30, 2022, a district court dismissed a Catholic high school’s RLUIPA challenge, granting summary judgment on all claims in favor of the City of Madison, Wisconsin and various other city officials (the City). As...more
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued an important decision regarding RLUIPA’s substantial burden and equal terms provisions. ...more
12/16/2019
/ Appeals ,
Equal Protection ,
Free Exercise Clause ,
Municipalities ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Institutions ,
Religious Schools ,
RLUIPA ,
School Sports ,
Substantial Burden ,
Zoning Laws
Wayside Chapel Evangelical Free Church is suing Castle Hills, Texas for denying its application for a special use permit for property located at 113 Ivywood Circle. The Church claims that the extra space is needed to...more
Last week, the United States Supreme Court denied Tree of Life Christian Schools’ petition for certiorari involving its longstanding religious dispute with Upper Arlington, Ohio (City). In 2009, Tree of Life purchased a...more
Earlier this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a decision in Tree of Life Christian Schools v. City of Upper Arlington concerning a religious school’s RLUIPA equal terms challenge. ...more
A federal court has issued another decision in the longstanding RLUIPA battle between the City of Upper Arlington, Ohio (“City”) and Tree of Life Christian Schools (“TLC”). For a second time, a federal court in the Southern...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
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 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
A federal court in Michigan has ruled that Genoa Charter Township did not violate federal law in denying a church’s application for a special use permit to operate a religious school. Livingston Christian Schools (LSC)...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently issued its decision in Tree of Life Christian Schools v. City of Upper Arlington, in which it reversed the lower court’s granting of summary judgment in favor of the...more
The King’s Tabernacle, a Rhode Island Church with a predominantly African American congregation of 20 members, has sued the Town of Johnston, Rhode Island over the Town’s denial of its special use permit for religious...more
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a request to review a church’s claim that the state of Missouri violated the federal constitution by prohibiting religious groups from obtaining state funding because of their...more
Earlier this year, we reported on the dismissal of Michigan Islamic Academy’s (“MIA”) RLUIPA suit against Pittsfield Charter Township. According to the District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, MIA did not have a...more
More than a year ago, we reported on an important decision for municipal officials by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, in American Islamic Center v. City of Des Plaines, No. 13-C-6594...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
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
A few weeks ago, we reported on a new RLUIPA suit arising in Genoa Charter Township, Michigan, where Livingston Christian Schools is suing the Township over the denial of a special land use permit to operate a religious...more
We’ve been monitoring news items involving local government, religion, and land use that may be of interest to our readers. Below is what has caught our attention.
Livingston Daily reports that Genoa Charter Township...more
8/24/2015
/ Corporate Contributions ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Holt v Hobbs ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Institutions ,
Religious Schools ,
RLUIPA ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
Special Use Permit ,
Tax Exemptions
As the end of summer nears, most schools are finalizing courses and preparing for the return of students. Livingston Christian Schools has much more to deal with – it is suing Genoa Charter Township, Michigan, in federal...more
We’re a little late with the round-up, but promise to continue our effort to bring you interesting stories from the intersection of religion and government.
- Mayfair, Pennsylvania residents feel disappointment after...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
A federal court in Michigan has ruled against a Muslim group in its RLUIPA suit against Pittsfield Charter Township after finding that the group lacked a legally cognizable property interest to sustain its claims. To...more
In an important decision for local governments, the Illinois Appellate Court on March 6, 2015 issued its decision in Joan Dachs Bais Yaakov Elementary School (“JDBY”) v. City of Evanston. The decision, particularly the...more