Becket Fund joins Missionaries of Charity lawsuit against Los AngelesFeb 11, 2002
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a public interest law firm that litigates on behalf of churches and other religious groups throughout the United States, has joined with local attorneys representing the Missionaries of Charity in a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles. Becket Fund attorneys Roman Storzer and Derek Gaubatz will assist Los Angeles attorney Patrick Perry, of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble & Mallory, at the trial which begins Wednesday, February 13, in U.S. District Court. (The trial was postponed for a day when another trial in the same court required an extra day to complete.)
In 1992, in the wake of riots in the area in April of that year, Brothers of the Missionaries of Charity (the order founded by Mother Teresa) bought and renovated a large house at 1345 Alvarado Terrace, in a depressed neighborhood a little less than a mile west of the Los Angeles Convention Center. Since then, the Brothers have ministered to mostly Hispanic homeless young adults three days a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) for five hours each day (9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.). Between 60 and 85 young adults visit the home, known as "Nuestro Hogar" ("Our Home"), on any given day. In this safe, secure, non-institutional homelike residential setting, visitors find refuge from their lives on the streets, a hot meal (supplied by volunteers from area Catholic churches), and the opportunity to shower and clean their clothes. Priests are present from time to time to hear confessions and say Mass, and the property has been blessed in accordance with Canon Law so that the Blessed Sacrament can be reserved in the home's small chapel.
For nine years, the Brothers of the Missionaries of Charity pursued this mission to the homeless without incident or any objection from city officials. But last year, at the instigation of neighbors who had moved into homes nearby after the Brothers had established Nuestro Hogar, city officials decided that the Missionaries of Charity would have to apply for a conditional use permit and zone variance for their ministry there. The Brothers filed the application, but it was denied by the city's assistant zoning administrator in May 2001, and an appeal to the Central Area Planning Commission was denied in August.
The lawsuit charges the city with violating the U.S. and California constitutions, and the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 ("RLUIPA"). Becket Fund attorneys are the nation's leading experts in litigation under RLUIPA, with more than a dozen cases presently underway from New Hampshire to Hawaii, including several in California. Additional information about the Missionaries of Charity lawsuit can be found on two Becket Fund web sites, www.becketfund.org and www.rluipa.com. Relevant Cases
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