Lawsuit alleges Leland Township violated federal religious protection laws

A federal lawsuit filed against Leland Township alleges that blocking a Youth for Christ chapter from meeting on private property in a business district location could violate a federal law protecting religious exercise.

The lawsuit, filed Aug. 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, claims Leland Township violated the U.S. Constitution, as well as federal and state law, by denying a proposed Youth for Christ club the ability to meet at a privately owned building in the township’s C-1 district.

The lawsuit states that Youth for Christ is a club, not a religious institution. But the township deems it a religious assembly.

If Youth For Christ were a religious organization, the township’s actions would be even more problematic, Thor Hearne, the plaintiffs’ attorney, told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an interview.

If the youth group were a religious organization, the township would have violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 in not granting a special use permit, Hearne said.

The law protects individuals, houses of worship, and religious institutions from discrimination and undue burdens from local land-use regulations such as zoning.

“Congress...heard testimony that, as a whole, religious institutions were treated worse than comparable secular institutions by zoning codes and zoning authorities,” he U.S. Department of Justice states on its website. “As RLUIPA’s Senate sponsors, Senator Hatch and the late Senator Kennedy, said in their joint statement issued upon the bill’s passage: “Zoning codes frequently exclude churches in places where they permit theaters, meeting halls, and other places where large groups of people assemble for secular purposes... Churches have been denied the right to meet in rented storefronts, in abandoned schools, in converted funeral homes, theaters, and skating rinks—in all sorts of buildings that were permitted when they generated traffic for secular purposes.’”

Under the Act, federal officials said, religious institutions and assemblies must be treated the same as other entities.

The township did not respond to CapCon’s email seeking comment.

Hearne told CapCon that the plaintiffs are asking that the township be required to repeal its ordinances, which they say discriminate against religious groups.

They also asked the court to allow the youth group to meet at the private property. The plaintiffs also seek reimbursement of all fees and fines incurred during the legal dispute.

The lawsuit also asks the judge to require township officials to take at least a one-day training session, annually for three years, to learn about the First Amendment and the limitations of government.

The Justice Department filed a similar civil lawsuit in February against Kingston, Pennsylvania, saying it violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

The Justice Department said in its complaint that the zoning ordinances required religious institutions to be established in residential areas on at least one acre. It stated that the religious groups were treated differently than other organizations and businesses.

Kingston denied the allegations but agreed to settle, with a federal judge overseeing a four-year consent order.

The Pennsylvania township agreed to amend the zoning ordinance, eliminate the acreage requirement, and treat religious assemblies the same as secular institutions.

It also had to establish a complaint procedure for alleged RLUIPA violations and provide in-person training of current and future township officials on the law.

The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.