ORLANDO, FL – Liberty Counsel has joined a diverse coalition on Amicus Briefs in two cases urging the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the constitutionality of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (“RLUIPA”). The Briefs were filed in the cases of Elsinore Christian Center v. City of Lake Elsinore and in Guru Nanak Sikh Society v. County of Sutter. Liberty Counsel is a national public interest law firm dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the traditional family. Liberty Counsel is joined in the Briefs by The Anti-Defamation League, The American Jewish Committee, The American Jewish Congress, The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, The Jewish Council for Public Affairs and The Seventh-Day Adventist Church State Council, among others.

RLUIPA was passed in 2000 with wide bi-partisan support and was designed to protect religious organizations from unfair zoning practices. RLUIPA states that city and county governments may not ban religious institutions from any jurisdictions and may not place unreasonable burdens on a religious institution within any jurisdiction. Testimony before Congress indicated that religious institutions such as places of worship had faced discriminatory zoning laws around the United States. For example, in Homestead, Florida, the city of Homestead attempted to completely ban churches from the downtown area. The law actually placed a two-year limitation on religious institutions located in the downtown business district. In the town of Surfside in southern Florida, the city completely banned religious institutions within the city limits. Orthodox Jews who do not drive on the Sabbath complained when the request to erect a synagogue in the city was denied.

The Guru Nanak Sikh Society was denied zoning approval twice to build a temple on land it had purchased for that purpose. The Society filed suit claiming a violation of RLUIPA. The county defended against the lawsuit and challenged the constitutionality of RLUIPA. The district court found that the denial of zoning approval violated RLUIPA and also upheld RLUIPA as constitutional. The county has appealed the case to the Ninth Circuit.

In the Elsinore Christian Center case, the church had been renting space for more than 12 years when it bought an abandoned naval and military school and sought to renovate the property for church services. The church was denied zoning approval and sued the city claiming a violation of RLUIPA. The district court decided against the church and held that RLUIPA was unconstitutional. The church has appealed to the Ninth Circuit.

Mat Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, stated, “RLUIPA is a necessary statute to prohibit widespread land use discrimination against churches and other religious institutions.” Staver continued, “Zoning has been used by some cities and counties to suppress freedom of religion. RLUIPA is designed to stop these discriminatory practices.” Staver concluded, “The Ninth Circuit should follow the numerous federal courts that have already upheld the constitutionality of the Religious Land Use law. The fact that the coalition is so diverse illustrates that religious freedom is for everyone or for no one. If we fail to protect religious freedom for all faiths, we will all lose our religious freedom together.”