An important decision today by the U.S. 7th Circuit in the case of CIVIL LIBERTIES FOR URBAN BELIEVERS, CHRIST CENTER, CHRISTIAN COVENANT OUTREACH CHURCH, et al., v. CITY OF CHICAGO, involving the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”), 42 UNITED STATES CODE § 2000cc et seq., and the United States Constitution. Access the decision here.
The 25-page decision is written by Judge Bauer, Judge Evans concurring. Judge Posner has a 10-page dissent. The majority concluded:
Drawing all factual inferences in Appellants’ favor, we nonetheless conclude that their statutory and constitutional claims challenging the Chicago Zoning Ordinance are without merit. We therefore AFFIRM the district court’s order granting the City of Chicago’s motion for summary judgment.Judge Posner's dissent begins:
This is a difficult case, but I have come to the conclusion that the restrictions that Chicago’s zoning ordinance places on churches (a term that I use broadly to include any religion’s place of worship) violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. I do not address the other grounds on which the plaintiffs attack the restrictions. The discussion of those grounds occupies most of the majority opinion, which devotes little space to what seems to me to be the strongest ground of the appeal.For earlier Indiana Law Blog coverage of the RLUIPA, check here and here. Posted by Marcia Oddi at August 20, 2003 02:17 PM