RLUIPA.org
Redwood Christian Trial Begins
Trial began on February 12 in the case of Redwood Christian Schools v. County of Alameda. For nearly 10 years, Redwood Christian has sought to build a permanent facility which would be home to a junior/senior high school on property it owns at 6400 East Castro Valley Boulevard. The county has rebuffed the school at every turn.In 1997, the school purchased overhauled and rundown property in Castro Valley. Redwood bent over backwards to accommodate county concerns in a four year application process, but at the end of the day the county told the school it was not welcome in Castro Valley.
“They’ve denied the school the right to build on its own land; they’ve trampled all over the Redwood Christian community’s right to religious exercise, expression and association,” said Derek Gaubatz, Litigation Director of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, co-counsel for Redwood Christian. “But most importantly, they’ve prevented the children and families of Redwood Christian Schools from getting the education they want and deserve.”
The county has acknowledged in writing that there is no other suitable place for this school in the rest of the county, and that denying the school the right to build on this property would mean the closure of the junior/senior high school. County officials and local residents have callously ignored this, defending their opposition with concerns about traffic, noise, and concerns that they admit pose no health or safety risk. The county, on the taxpayer’s dime, has brought in many different teams of lawyers, and is currently represented by high profile San Francisco law firm Keker & Van Nest, the firm that represented (among other dubious clients) former Enron executive Andrew Fastow.
“Put bluntly, the county and its supporters think that the neighbors being bothered by a soccer kids’ soccer game is more important than the future of these children,” added Gaubatz. “Fortunately for Redwood Christian, the First Amendment clearly says that it isn’t.”
The trial will be held in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California. The case number is C01-4282 SC ADR.