Religious Use Law in South Florida
On March 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Ramirez v. Collier, No. 21-5592, reversing the Fifth Circuit, and holding that because Texas’ restrictions on religious touch and audible prayer in the execution chamber...more
Houston Community College System v. Wilson, No. 20-804: This case concerns whether the First Amendment limits a local government’s power to censure its members. Mr. Wilson was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Houston...more
Across the nation, religious institutions are challenging COVID-19-related restrictions on religious worship. There are too many cases to note. We recently posted about the U.S. Supreme Court’s (SCOTUS) decision denying an...more
The US Supreme Court today issued its latest pronouncement on regulatory takings, Murr et. al, v. Wisconsin, et al. Justice Kennedy wrote for the Court, joined by Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan. The issue was...more
Timely Topics - The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral argument in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer, No. 15-577. The lawsuit concerns whether the daycare operated by a Missouri church may qualify...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
Respondeat superior (literally, "let the master answer" in Latin) is a doctrine that applies when an employer or principal has the ability and authority to direct and control the pertinent acts of the employee. Put otherwise,...more
Unfortunately it’s time to say goodbye to the last true week of summer. But RLUIPA Defense is happy to say hello to fall with another edition of the Round-Up! - According to the San Francisco Chronicle, despite an...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
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
Local governments may now have more to fear following the Supreme Court’s decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert. While the Reed decision may cause many local governments to question the constitutionality of their sign...more
After a brief summer hiatus, RLUIPA Defense is back with another edition of the Round-Up. What better way to kick things off than with news about the Satanic Temple of Detroit, which recently unveiled “The Satanic Temple...more
As promised in our earlier post, Reed v. Gilbert: Impact to municipalities across the nation, this post provides a summary of Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, a case that, coupled with Reed, has led...more
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
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
Last fall, the Second Circuit decided Chabad Lubavitch of Litchfield County, Inc. v. Borough of Litchfield, 786 F.3d 183 (2d Cir. 2014), reversing the lower court’s order of summary judgment in favor of the Borough of...more
Less than a week after its decision in Holt v. Hobbs, the Supreme Court in Knight v. Thompson, No. 13-955 (2015), vacated and remanded the Eleventh Circuit’s rejection of Native American prisoners’ claims challenging prison...more
On January 20, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Holt v. Hobbs, No. 13-6827, holding that the Arkansas Department of Correction’s grooming policy violates Section 3 of the Religious Land Use and...more
Remember the scene in Home Alone where Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) shaves for the first time, applies aftershave, and then screams in pain from the sting of the alcohol touching his skin? Local governments may...more