Judge rules on church suing town that banned help for homeless
A federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction that prevents the city of Castle Rock, Colorado, from interfering with a church’s program to help the homeless by providing temporary shelter in an RV and a trailer camper unit on its own property.
The Rock Church had sued the town after officials there ordered church members to no longer help the homeless on their own church land, and the judge said that campaign created a substantial burden because it “prevents participation in a conduct motivated by a sincerely held religious belief.”
A CBS report noted the Rock Church has sheltered homeless people in RVs on its land since 2019 but town officials blocked that ministry multiple times in 2021, 2022 and 2023 claiming it was a violation of zoning laws.
The church’s legal action charged that city officials were violating the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act with their campaign.
The church’s goals were clear, in its filing: “The Holy Bible specifically and repeatedly directs faithful Christians like the church’s members to care for the poor and needy out of compassion and mercy for those who are experiencing significant misfortune and hardship.”
U.S. District Judge Daniel Domenico on Friday ruled that the town did violate the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a law passed by Congress in 2000, which grants religious institutions protections from zoning laws that prohibit free exercise of religion.
The judge said in his order, “The church stresses that by preventing it from allowing the homeless to live on its property, the town is precluding the church from exercising its religious beliefs regardless of whether it might be possible to provide for the needy in some other way. There is no reason to second-guess the church at this point, regardless of how idiosyncratic or mistaken the town may find its beliefs to be.”
He continued, “The town does not explicitly argue that it has a compelling interest in enforcing the (Planning Division) regulations as interpreted by the board of adjustment, and the church contends that the town could have no such interest because the church takes a number of precautions to ensure that its temporary shelter is safe. These include having a third party conduct background checks and requiring any RV tenants to sign contracts indicating that they will abide by certain rules.”
Further, he said the town failed to identify any safety issues from the church’s actions.
The report noted the church had has to turn away people who needed help because of Castle Rock’s actions.
The judge noted the precedent he was following: “As the 10th Circuit has noted, a substantial burden exists for the purposes of RLUIPA where the government ‘prevents participation in conduct motivated by a sincerely held religious belief.'”
Those beliefs are “supported by sworn affidavits,” the judge said, which the town “does not ultimately dispute.”
The judge said, “To hold otherwise would invite the sort of ‘trolling through a person’s … religious beliefs’ and ‘governmental monitoring or second-guessing’ of ‘religious beliefs and practices’ that the 10th Circuit recently reiterated is forbidden by the First Amendment.”
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