Justice Department Files Statement of Interest in Religious Land Use Case Involving Arizona Food Ministry that Serves the Hungry

The Justice Department filed a statement of interest yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona explaining that a church's claims under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA) are ready for judicial review in federal court.

The statement of interest was filed in Gethsemani Baptist Church v. City of San Luis, a lawsuit alleging that the City of San Luis, Arizona, (the City) imposed a substantial burden on the religious exercise of Gethsemani Baptist Church (the Church) and treated the Church less favorably than secular institutions. The lawsuit alleges that the Church has operated a Food Ministry on its property as part of its religious exercise since 1999 and has provided food to thousands of people in need. The City recently became hostile to the Church, claiming that its use of its property and its use of semi-trucks to deliver food and supplies to the Ministry violated the City's zoning code. The City took enforcement action to stop the Church from operating the Food Ministry, including by issuing multiple citations to the Church's pastor.

"Churches have been on the front lines helping to alleviate hunger and meet the needs of those experiencing food insecurity across the country," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. "Federal law provides broad protection to religious exercise, including for ministries that serve people who are hungry or in need of basic supplies. Once a municipality applies its zoning code to restrict religious exercise, impacted groups do not need to jump through procedural hoops to obtain relief in federal court. The Justice Department is committed to ensuring that religious groups can properly exercise their rights under RLUIPA."

The City filed a motion to dismiss the Church's lawsuit, arguing in part that the Church's RLUIPA claims could not proceed. The department's statement of interest refutes this claim, asserting that the Church is not required to apply for a conditional use permit and that doing so would have been futile. The statement also argues that the Church has sufficiently shown the City's ability to conduct an "individualized assessment" of the Church's use of the property as required by RLUIPA.

RLUIPA is a federal law that protects religious institutions from unduly burdensome or discriminatory land use regulations. In June 2018, the Justice Department announced its Place to Worship Initiative, which focuses on RLUIPA's provisions that protect the rights of houses of worship and other religious institutions to worship on their land. More information is available at www.justice.gov/crt/placetoworship. As part of this initiative, the department has filed statements of interest in other RLUIPA cases involving faith-based services to persons in need, including in Micah's Way v. City of Santa Ana (Central District of California) and St. Timothy's Episcopal Church et al. v. City of Brookings (District of Oregon). Additionally, the department hosted outreach forums with religious leaders at Seton Hall Law School in Newark, New Jersey, and Chapman University Law School in Santa Ana, California, on combating religious discrimination under RLUIPA and also issued a letter to state, county and municipal leaders throughout the country to remind them of their obligations under RLUIPA.

Individuals who believe they have been subjected to discrimination in land use or zoning decisions can contact the U.S. Attorney's Office Civil Division's Civil Rights Section at (213) 894-2879 or the Civil Rights Division Housing and Civil Enforcement Section at (833) 591-0291 or may submit a complaint through the complaint portal on the Place to Worship Initiativewebsite. More information about RLUIPA, including questions and answers about the law and other documents, can be found at www.justice.gov/crt/about/hce/rluipaexplain.php.