City Wins When Federal Court Applies Narrow – “Apples to Apples” – Analysis...
The District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, in Tree of Life Christian Schools v. The City of Upper Arlington, No. 2:11-cv-009 (Southern District of Ohio, 2014), has granted summary judgment...
View ArticleVillage of Northbrook, Illinois Facing Familiar Threat of RLUIPA
The Village of Northbrook, Illinois is no stranger to the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), having successfully defended against claims that it violated the Act brought by...
View ArticleConvicted Murderer Seeks Conjugal Visits with Multiple Wives under RLUIPA
It’s not often that we report on an RLUIPA prisoner case, but the case Thomas v. Corbett, No. 458 M.D. 2013 (Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court April 29, 2014), is remarkable enough in its claims to...
View ArticleU.S. Supreme Court: Religious Prayer at Board Meetings does not Violate First...
In a 5-4 decision with multiple opinions, the United States Supreme Court in Town of Greece v. Galloway, No. 12-696, 572 U.S. ___ (2014), has ruled that the Town of Greece’s practice of opening its...
View ArticleMichigan Federal Court: City’s Prohibition of Donation Bins Violates First...
We previously reported on the case of Planet Aid v. City of St. Johns, Michigan, Docket No. 1:14-cv-00149 (W.D. Mich. 2014), in which Planet Aid sued the City of St. Johns over the enactment of an...
View ArticleAfter the Greece, NY Decision Comes the Inevitable
Three days after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Town of Greece v. Galloway, No. 12-696, 572 U.S. ___ (2014) (see our previous post about the case), a Deerfield Beach, Florida resident, Chaz...
View ArticleCounty Wins -- U.S. Supreme Court Denies Cert. in Eagle Cove Camp &...
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Eagle Cove Camp & Conference Center, Inc.’s request that it review the Seventh Circuit’s decision rejecting Eagle Cove’s claims that the County of Oneida...
View ArticleMore Greece Aftermath: Maryland Federal Court Vacates Preliminary Injunction...
On the same day as the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Town of Greece v. Galloway, No. 12-696, 572 U.S. ___ (2014), the court in Hake v. Carroll County, Maryland, No. WDQ-13-1312 (Dist. Maryland...
View ArticleUpcoming ABA Webinar – “Town of Greece v. Galloway: Legislative Prayer,...
The American Bar Association’s State & Local Government Section is sponsoring a webinar about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Town of Greece v. Galloway that may be of interest to many of our...
View ArticleVillage of Sauk City, Wisconsin Settles RLUIPA Suit with Church
We previously reported on the case River Hills Community Church of Sauk Prairie v. Village of Sauk City, Wisconsin, No. 14-cv-48-wmc (D. Wisconsin 2014), in which River Hills Community Church sued the...
View ArticleNew RLUIPA Suit Challenges California City’s Denial of Zoning Permit to...
Harbor Missionary Church is suing the City of San Buenaventura, California under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) over the City’s refusal to allow it to continue...
View ArticleRLUIPA & Terrorism in Tennessee – Rutherford County Responds to Murfreesboro...
Opponents of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro’s (ICM) 52,000 square foot facility, consisting of a mosque and spaces for religious education, counseling, and other activities, on a 15-acre parcel in...
View ArticleChurch Prepared to Battle Board’s Approval of Dog Kennel
A dispute is heating up in Hilton Head, South Carolina between a church and a dog kennel that has been described as a “dog hotel.” The Church of Christ of Hilton Head plans to appeal the Board of...
View ArticleRLUIPA & Eminent Domain – City of Orlando to Take Church Property to...
The City of Orlando, Florida has filed an eminent domain suit to acquire property owned by a church as part of its plan to construct an $85 million soccer stadium for a Major League Soccer expansion...
View ArticleGeorgia City Amends Zoning Ordinance in Response to Department of Justice...
The following is reported by the U.S. Department of Justice in its newsletter Religious Freedom in Focus (May 2014, Vol. 60).In response to a Department of Justice investigation under the Religious...
View ArticleLawsuit Challenging Ten Commandments Monument at Oklahoma Capitol Can...
A case to watch out of Oklahoma – American Atheists, Inc. v. Thompson, No. CIV-14-42-C (W.D. OK 2014) – involves a lawsuit brought by an atheist group challenging the placement of a 2,000 pound Ten...
View ArticleCounty Wins RLUIPA/Terrorism Case: U.S. Supreme Court Declines Review of...
On May 27, we reported on the petition for a writ of certiorari (Docket No. 13-1214) filed by opponents of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro (“ICM”). They sought review of a Tennessee Appellate Court...
View ArticleChurch Obtains Restraining Order to Allow Ministry to Homeless
On May 23, we reported about the lawsuit filed by Harbor Missionary Church against the City of San Buentaventura, California over the City’s denial of Harbor’s application for a conditional use permit...
View ArticleJustice Scalia Dissents from SCOTUS’ Cert Denial in “Big Religion” Case;...
On June 16, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Doe 3 v. Elmbrook School District (7th Cir. 2012), in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in a 7-3 en banc decision, found...
View ArticleThreat of RLUIPA Suit Prompts Plano, Texas to Revoke Cease & Desist Order...
On May 7, the City of Plano, Texas issued a cease and desist order to Agape Resource and Assistance Center, Inc., alleging that Agape was in violation of the City’s zoning ordinance (read the order...
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