“Municipality Prevails in Dispute Over Personal Chapel” RLUIPA Defense reports here on Milosavlejevic v. City of Brier (W.D. Wash. 2017) .
Category: RLUIPA
E.D. Va.: Nations of Gods and Earths a religion, not a gang
E.D. Va.: Nations of Gods and Earths a religion, not a gang. Religion Clause reports here on Coward v. Robinson, (E.D. Va., Aug. 28, 2017).
Ind. Trial Ct.: Christian camp’s challenge to dairy denied for failing to show burden on religious practice
An Indiana trial court recently denied a church camp’s challenge to a nearby dairy farm’s operations (download order here). In one of the first lawsuits filed under Indiana’s relatively new Religious Freedom Restoration Act (Ind. Code §§ 34-13-9-1 to -11), the Hoosier Environmental Council filed a complaint (download here) on behalf of a children’s church camp in eastern Indiana. The complaint alleged that the Rush County Board of Zoning Appeals substantially burdened the House of Prayer Ministries’ exercise of religion by granting a special exception to local zoning ordinances allowing Milco Dairy to construct and operate a concentrated animal feeding operation, known as a CAFO. After the trial court ruled in the dairy’s favor, the Hoosier Environmental Council filed the necessary documents to initiate an appeal. Its first brief will be due in about thirty days. Continue reading “Ind. Trial Ct.: Christian camp’s challenge to dairy denied for failing to show burden on religious practice”
D. Mass.: Challenge to solar farm dismissed for failure to show sacred Indian mounds existed on site
D. Mass.: Challenge to solar farm dismissed for failure to show sacred Indian mounds existed on site. The decision concluded that RLUIPA doesn’t create a right to carry out religious activities on property owned or controlled by another. Continue reading “D. Mass.: Challenge to solar farm dismissed for failure to show sacred Indian mounds existed on site”
1714 Religious Exemptions to Legal Requirements
[podcast src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/5210018/height/90/width/450/theme/custom/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/c30000/” height=”90″ width=”450″]American law has many protections of religious freedom. Among these are various means by which religious people and organizations can seek exemptions from otherwise-applicable legal requirements when those rules would burden their religious beliefs. This episode discusses the development of those exemptions under the First Amendment, the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, and state versions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Continue reading “1714 Religious Exemptions to Legal Requirements”
7th Cir.: Att’y fees to defend frivolous suit are substantial burden; jury must decide zoning denial
The Seventh Circuit affirmed that incurring attorney fees in a frivolous lawsuit brought by a governmental entity can constitute a substantial burden under RLUIPA this week. It also reversed a determination that the City of Chicago had demonstrated the city had not imposed a substantial burden on a religious outreach center’s religious activities by denying licenses required to conduct those activities. Judge Richard A. Posner wrote the opinion for the court, and Judge Richard D. Cudahy wrote the following, exceptional concurrence: “Unfortunately, and I think the opinion must be stamped with a large ‘MAYBE.’” Judge Ilana Rovner was the third vote. Another notable aspect of the case is that, like most RLUIPA cases, it has been in litigation a long time—nine years. As Judge Posner wrote, “We can understand the judge’s desire to end a litigation that will soon have lasted as long as the Trojan War, but we do not think that the end is yet in sight.” Continue reading “7th Cir.: Att’y fees to defend frivolous suit are substantial burden; jury must decide zoning denial”