Lighthouse Mission Continues Fight Against Long Branch, NJ

On May 31, The Becket Fund filed its opening brief before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of Lighthouse Mission in its suit against the City of Long Branch New Jersey.

As the brief explains, this case is a poster child for the type of discrimination Congress wanted to eradicate through RLUIPA. Lighthouse Mission is a church that ministers to the poor in the downtown area of Long Branch and provides them with free meals. The City of Long Branch has prohibited Lighthouse from operating in its property in the downtown area for more than ten years, despite the fact that it permits many secular assemblies in the same district. Not satisfied with mere prohibition, the city is now threatening to take the Mission’s building through the process of eminent domain.

Accordingly, the brief focuses on the proper interpretation of the Equal Terms provision of RLUIPA, Section 2(b)(1).

Resources & Documents

• Lighthouse opening brief (May 31, 2006) (PDF, 289.74KB)

Relevant Cases

• Lighthouse Institute for Evangelism v. City of Long Branch