Original Photography by Pai Shih (Licensed, cropped from original)
Original Photography by Pai Shih (Licensed, cropped from original)

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 initial denial of the Crossing church’s request, Pike County, Washington will likely rezone a former pellet plant from industrial use in order to accommodate the church’s planned development. The State’s Attorney noted concerns with religious land use protections as the motivating factor for reconsideration of the zoning decision.
  • After a request from the Freedom from Religion Foundation and allegations that the school was violating the Establishment Clause, Royster Middle School in Chanute, Kansas removed The Head of Christ painting that was once hung within the public school’s halls, People
  • Fox News reports that the “Sister Wives,” TLC reality show stars, continue to fight to strike down Utah’s ban on polygamy by filing an opposition to the State of Utah’s appeal from the December 2013 District Court decision that ruled that parts of Utah’s anti-polygamy law are unconstitutional (past RLUIPA Defense post here). The Wives cite the Supreme Court’s recent marriage equality case, Obergefell v. Hodges, to argue that that state may no longer criminalize “unpopular unions.”
  • RLUIPA attorney, author, and occasional guest contributor to RLUPIA Defense, Daniel P. Dalton, received the Alliance Defending Freedom’s Silver Service Award, according to hometownlife.
  • Austin, Texas recently paid $480,000 to settle a lawsuit by five pregnancy resource centers that claimed as unconstitutional the city’s ordinance requiring they post a sign to indicate whether the centers provided medical services, whether they were directed by a licensed health care provider and whether they had a state or federal license, the Texas Lawyer
  • A New Hampshire prisoner is suing the state after he was placed in secure housing and denied parole for refusing to shave his beard, claiming his beard is part of his Taoist beliefs, according to com.