E.D. Pa.: Company may condemn and take property of Catholic order to build pipeline

E.D. Pa.: Company may condemn and take property of Catholic order to build pipeline. Religion Clause reports here on the decision in Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Co., LLC v. Permanent Easement for 2.14 Acres(E.D. Pa Aug. 23, 2017), as it relates to Adorers. Page 21 of the decision includes this analysis and conclusion:

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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”

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”