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City of Kirkwood, MO Hits Homerun in Religious Baseball Field Dispute in Eighth Circuit

By Evan Seeman on Posted in Comparator, Equal Terms, Substantial Burden
Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued an important decision regarding RLUIPA’s substantial burden and equal terms provisions.  The court ruled in favor of the City of Kirkwood, Missouri in a years-long battle against a religious high school challenging the City’s lighting regulations for its baseball field.  St. John Vianney High … Continue Reading

Hand of Hope RLUIPA Claims Survive Summary Judgment

By Karla Chaffee on Posted in Comparator, Equal Terms, Substantial Burden
Hand of Hope Pregnancy Resource Center (“Hand of Hope”) is a non-profit  in Raleigh, North Carolina with the mission to “affirm the value of life from conception by compassionately sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ[.]”  It offers clients prayer, Bible study, and spiritual counseling, as well as free reproductive healthcare information, physician-quality pregnancy testing, limited … Continue Reading

North Carolina City’s Zoning Code Amendment “At The Cross”-Road of RLUIPA Claim

By Diana Neeves on Posted in Comparator, Equal Terms, Nondiscrimination
Recent amendments to the zoning code of the City of Monroe, North Carolina (the “City”) are unconstitutional, according to the Complaint filed by At the Cross Fellowship Baptist Church (the “Church”), a congregation of approximately 30 people established in 2017, which describes itself as having “a calling to serve the Monroe, North Carolina community.”… Continue Reading

City’s Refusal to Permit Private Religious School in Business District Does Not Violate RLUIPA

By Evan Seeman on Posted in Comparator, Equal Terms
A federal court has issued another decision in the longstanding RLUIPA battle between the City of Upper Arlington, Ohio (“City”) and Tree of Life Christian Schools (“TLC”).  For a second time, a federal court in the Southern District of Ohio has ruled that the City did not violate RLUIPA’s equal terms provision by prohibiting religious … Continue Reading

Signs 4 JC Shown the Light by NH District Court

By Karla Chaffee and Evan Seeman on Posted in Comparator, First Amendment
Thou shall have the right to an electronic sign?  Apparently not.  Just over a year ago, Hillside Baptist Church and Signs for Jesus (together, Plaintiffs or Church) filed a complaint in the District Court for New Hampshire, seeking a declaration that the Town of Pembroke’s (the Town) sign ordinance is unconstitutional both facially and as … Continue Reading

Did the Sixth Circuit Unintentionally Adopt an RLUIPA Equal Terms Test?

By Evan Seeman, Karla Chaffee and Dwight Merriam on Posted in Comparator, Eminent Domain, Equal Terms, Safe Harbor Provision
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently issued its decision in Tree of Life Christian Schools v. City of Upper Arlington, in which it reversed the lower court’s granting of summary judgment in favor of the City as to Tree of Life’s RLUIPA equal terms claim.  RLUIPA’s equal terms provision states: “No … Continue Reading

Congregation unlikely to succeed on RLUIPA claims

By Karla Chaffee, Evan Seeman, Dwight Merriam and John Peloso on Posted in Comparator, Equal Terms, Total Exclusion, Unreasonable Limitation
The Northern District of Illinois recently had an opportunity to apply the Seventh Circuit’s “accepted zoning criteria” RLUIPA Equal Terms test to a plaintiff’s request for a preliminary injunction in Truth Foundation Ministries, NFP v. Village of Romeoville, Case No. 15 C 7839.  The court concluded that Truth Foundation Ministries (“TFM”) did not have a … Continue Reading

Suit by “Interested,” Neighboring Municipalities to Enforce SEQRA Requirements Does Not “Impose or Implement” a Land Use Regulation or Constitute a “Government Practice” and does not Violate RLUIPA

By Karla Chaffee, Evan Seeman and Dwight Merriam on Posted in Comparator, Substantial Burden
On March 27, 2015, the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment in favor of all defendants in the consolidated action Bernstein v. Wesley Hills, 08-CV-156; 12-CV-8856 (KMK), (the “Wesley Hills” Action). The court’s 76-page decision begins with a recitation of the long procedural history of the case and the separate 2004 action filed … Continue Reading

Illinois Appellate Court Interprets Equal Terms “Comparator” Favorably for Local Government

By Evan Seeman, Karla Chaffee and Dwight Merriam on Posted in Comparator, Equal Terms, Nondiscrimination
In an important decision for local governments, the Illinois Appellate Court on March 6, 2015 issued its decision in Joan Dachs Bais Yaakov Elementary School (“JDBY”) v. City of Evanston. The decision, particularly the Appellate Court’s assessment of comparators and its willingness to look past some boorish comments by a local official, may prove damaging … Continue Reading

Kennesaw Reverses Course and Approves Mosque

By Karla Chaffee and Dwight Merriam on Posted in Comparator, Equal Terms, Substantial Burden
Earlier this month, we reported that Kennesaw, Georgia’s City Council voted 4 to 1 to deny a land use application by Suffa Dawat Center (the “Center”) to establish an Islamic place of worship and education center in a retail shopping plaza. On Monday, Councilmembers Leonard Church, Tim Killingsworth, Jim Sebastian and Debra Williams—all who had … Continue Reading

Whats a Similarly Situated Comparator under RLUIPAs Equal Terms Provision? Florida Federal Court Explains in Finding Against City of Jacksonville.

By Evan Seeman, Dwight Merriam and Karla Chaffee on Posted in Comparator, Equal Terms, Substantial Burden, Unreasonable Limitation
Few courts have identified what it means to be a “similarly situated” comparator under RLUIPA’s equal terms provision.  Recently, in Church of Our Savior v. City of Jacksonville, (M.D. FL 2014), a federal court in Florida identified some factors used to determine the issue.  The Court’s decision may serve as an important guide for future … Continue Reading

City Wins When Federal Court Applies Narrow Apples to Apples Analysis to Identify “Comparators”

By Evan Seeman and Dwight Merriam on Posted in Comparator
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 in favor of the City of Upper Arlington (“City”) in its defense of RLUIPA and related claims brought by Tree of Life Christian … Continue Reading

RLUIPA Equal Terms Provision Its All About the Benjamins

By Evan Seeman and Dwight Merriam on Posted in Comparator, Equal Terms
RLUIPA’s Equal Terms provision provides in part: “No government shall impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that treats a religious assembly or institution on less than equal terms with a nonreligious assembly or institution.”  42 U.S.C. § 2000cc(b)(1).  RLUIPA, however, does not expound any further upon the terms of this provision, … Continue Reading
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