Liberty Counsel
NEWS RELEASE

Contact: PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT - 800-671-1776

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 12, 2006

Denver, CO - Liberty Counsel has joined with a broad coalition of religious and civil rights groups to file a brief in the case of Town of Foxfield, Colorado v. Archdiocese of Denver, urging the Colorado Court of Appeals to uphold the constitutionality of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 ("RLUIPA"). Liberty Counsel is a national public interest law firm dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the traditional family. Liberty Counsel is joined in the brief by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, The American Center for Law and Justice, The Association of Christian Schools International, The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, The Queens Federation of Churches, Inc., and The Soka Gakkai International-USA. The appeals court will hear oral argument today at 1:30 p.m. MT in this case.

RLUIPA is a federal law that was designed to protect religious organizations from unfair zoning practices. RLUIPA states that city and county governments may not ban religious institutions from any jurisdiction and may not place unreasonable burdens on a religious institution within any jurisdiction. Testimony before Congress indicated that churches had frequently faced discriminatory zoning laws around the United States. For example, in Homestead, Florida, the city of Homestead attempted to completely ban churches from the downtown area. The law actually placed a two-year limitation on religious institutions located in the downtown business district. In the town of Surfside in southern Florida, the city completely banned religious institutions within the city limits.

In the Colorado case, the town tried to stop the Archdiocese from using property it had occupied since 1998. At the urging of a few neighbors, the town enacted a bizarre ordinance declaring it unlawful to park more than five motor vehicles for more than fifteen minutes within 1,000 feet of a private residential property on more than two occasions during any thirty-day period.

Liberty Counsel President Anita L. Staver commented: "This case is not unusual. Zoning laws have often been used by local government to suppress religious freedom. RLUIPA is designed to stop these discriminatory practices. The Colorado Court of Appeals should follow the numerous federal courts that have already upheld the constitutionality of this law. The fact that the coalition joining in this case is so diverse illustrates the necessity of the law. If we fail to protect religious freedom for all faiths, we will all lose our religious freedom together."

###