An annotated bibliography of sources on the topic of:
Religious Land Use
compiled and annotated by Kimberly Shiu
for the course CAS CC 204: Religion and Secularism in Spring 2015
Caroline R. Adams, “The Constitutional Validity of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000: Will RLUIPA’s Strict Scrutiny Survive the Supreme Court’s Strict Scrutiny?” Fordham Law Review, 52(2002): 2361- 2364.
Adams argues that Congress should not have enacted RLUIPA, because land-use regulations, she argues, were not sufficiently demonstrated to suppress the exercise of religion.
“Civil Rights Division RLUIPA Summary.” The United States Department of Justice. Accessed April 8, 2015.
The United States Department of Justice provides an overview of Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”), 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc and its full text. It also provides examples of when this act has been invoked in court. The Act forbids state and local governments from imposing a substantial burden on the exercise of religion unless they can demonstrate that imposition of such burden is the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling interest.
Hale O Kaula Church V. The Maui Planning Commission, No. 01-00615, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24510 (D. Haw. Jul. 18, 2003).
In this court case, the Hale O Kaula Church claimed that the Maui Planning Commission had violated the RLUIPA and the First Amendment when denying the church a special use permit to build a church. In response, the county argued that RLUIPA was unconstitutional and attempted to have the case dismissed. The court ruled in favor of Hale O Kaula Church, defending RLUIPA and granting the church its property.
Leslie Griffin. Law and Religion, Cases and Materials. (New York, N.Y.: Thomson Reuters/Foundation Press, 2008), 197-205.
Griffin’s text contains both primary and secondary sources; the publication puts forth the arguments of RLUIPA while questioning its validity. It has several court cases, which exemplify how RLUIPA has been exercised in the courts.
Thumma, Scott, Dave Travis, and Tex Dallas. Beyond Megachurch Myths: What We Can Learn from America’s Largest Churches. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass, 2007.
Although Thumma et. al’s work was written in support of megachurches, pages 50-52 and chapter 11 provide a helpful overview on land use issues when it comes to the separation of church and state.