RLUIPA.org
Broad Coalition Defends RLUIPA in Colorado Supreme Court Case
Seventeen religious and civil rights organizations submitted a brief to the Colorado Supreme Court as amici curae to defend the constitutionality of RLUIPA. The brief was filed in the case of Town of Foxfield v. Archdiocese of Denver, where the state's highest court will decide whether to strike down zoning regulations that targeted religious gatherings at the Rectory of Our Lady of Loreto Parish in Foxfield, CO.
The unlikely coalition of amici came together, despite their vast differences, because "they are acutely aware, often by first-hand experience, that zoning laws are commonly applied in a manner that either imposes heavy and unnecessary burdens on religious exercise, or discriminates based on religion or particular denomination."
The brief was written by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and was joined by the American Jewish Congress; Association of Christian Schools International; Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty; Christian and Missionary Alliance; Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention; General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists; Hindu American Foundation; National Association of Evangelicals; National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA; Queens Federation of Churches; Resident Bishop of the Rocky Mountain Conference of the United Methodist Church; Sikh Coalition; Stated Clerk, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; and Worldwide Church of God.
Read the brief here.
Read more about the case here.
Resources & Documents
- Foxfield Brief (3/15/2007) (PDF, 4KB)