Becket Fund defends constitutionality of RLUIPA

Jul 9, 2004

From:  The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
           1350 Connecticut Avenue NW
           Washington, D.C.
           Contact: Jared N. Leland, Esq. (202) 955-0095
                         Kelly Jane Torrance

For immediate release: July 9, 2004

Becket Fund defends constitutionality of RLUIPA
Group files brief in Second Circuit defending religious freedom

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief (PDF format, 347K) that was received by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit today. The brief supports the affirmance of U.S. Magistrate Judge Holly Fitzsimmons' decision in Murphy v. Zoning Commission of the Town of New Milford.

After Robert Murphy became ill, he and his wife Mary began hosting a prayer group on Sunday afternoons in the New Milford, CT, home they have lived in for 28 years. The meetings began in 1994, but it was not until late summer 2000 that the town's zoning office received complaints from neighbors with traffic and parking concerns. After an investigation, the Zoning Enforcement Office ordered the Murphys in December 2000 to cease hosting the meetings, citing violations of zoning regulations governing the single-family district.

The Murphys filed suit and eventually won. But the New Milford Zoning Commission has appealed, arguing that the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) is unconstitutional. In her decision, U.S. Magistrate Holly Fitzsimmons wrote, "The court agrees with The Becket Fund that 'the prohibitions of RLUIPA based on the Enforcement Clause correspond so closely to current First and Fourteenth Amendment jurisprudence that they scarcely require justification as 'preventive' or 'deterrent' measures."

The Becket Fund's brief defends the constitutionality of this law. The Becket Fund has defended the religious liberty of people and groups across the country using RLUIPA, a law that has been found constitutional in an overwhelming majority of cases that have reached the courts. The Second Circuit could also affirm the Murphys' win based on their First Amendment claims to Free Exercise of religion or their claim under the Connecticut Act Concerning Religious Freedom.

The brief can be found on the web at www.becketfund.org/litigate/MurphyAmicus070804.pdf.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty (www.becketfund.org) is an international, interfaith, public-interest law firm that protects the free expression of all religious traditions.

Resources & Documents

• Murphy Amicus Brief 7/8/04 (PDF, 346.45KB)

Relevant Cases

• Murphy v. Zoning Commission of the Town of New Milford