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
Comparator
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 & Guest Contributor on
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…
City Wins When Federal Court Applies Narrow Apples to Apples Analysis to Identify “Comparators”
By Evan Seeman & 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…
RLUIPA Equal Terms Provision Its All About the Benjamins
By Evan Seeman & 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…