RLUIPA.org
Village of Suffern, NY Sued for Violating RLUIPA
In a story reported by the New York Times, The federal government sued the village of Suffern, NY, after the village denied a private group the right to run a home offering lodging and meals to Orthodox Jews visiting patients at a local hospital on the Sabbath and holy days.
In the lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court here, the government said the Rockland County village violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 by refusing to grant a zoning exemption to allow the group, Bikur Cholim Inc., to operate the home.
“This lawsuit enforces Congress’s determination that local zoning regulations must give way when they unlawfully burden religious exercise,” Michael J. Garcia, the United States attorney for the Southern District, said in a written statement.
Village officials have argued that the property, known as a Shabbos House, is essentially a transient motel and cannot operate out of a single-family house in an area zoned as residential.
“A transient group is absolutely contrary to the definition of what a family is and what should be in a single-family zone,” the village attorney, Terry Rice, said in an interview. “Frankly, for the United States government to get involved is reprehensible.”
Read the full article here.
Read the AP coverage here.
Read the federal government's complaint.
Read the DOJ press release.