RLUIPA | religious land use

Subscribe to RLUIPA | religious land use via RSS

Why is it, you ask, that the ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference (scheduled next February 1-3, 2024, in New Orleans) is an event that seems to be growing in popularity and attendance. In recent years, we have standing room only in the Conference halls, and have sold out the hotel block. After all, this is a pretty niche area of law. So what gives?

When we were in Austin earlier this year, we thought it might be nice to try and answer that question. We asked Conference participants why they come, year-after-year (and in Austin, despite massive travel disruptions). Yes, it is the various venues (Nashville, Austin, Scottsdale, Palm Springs, to name a few recent locations), and yes, it is the excellent and useful programming.

But as we suspected it is more than that. As the above video notes…

Continue Reading ALI-CLE’s Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference (Feb 1-3, 2024, New Orleans): Why Attend? Here’s Why.

Even if the world were open tomorrow, the doors to most Hawaii state, county, and city offices would still be locked. Because Friday, April 7 is the day that Hawaii celebrates Good Friday.

Yes, Good Friday is an an official state-sanctioned holiday in the 808 area code, so we’re reposting our annual recounting of how it came to be that the State commemorates the date of the crucifixion, and how that squares with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. 

Turns out that we don’t really commemorate today as the crucifixion date, and it is just coincidence that the official State “spring holiday” occurs on the same day. (And this being Hawaii, in the end it’s really a public worker union thing like a lot of things.)

Good Friday is a legal holiday in the State of Hawaii pursuant to Haw. Rev. Stat. § 8-1. [Barista’s note:…

Continue Reading Tomorrow Is Hawaii’s Secular Good Friday Holiday – How So?

IMG_20180720_152115

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s recent opinion in Church of the Holy Spirit of Wayland v. Heinrich, No. SJC-13326 (Mar. 14, 2023) isn’t our usual takings-and-related fare, but it is straight-up Dirt Law and a bit land-usey so we’re posting it. Besides, it is just what you need to perk up your ears midweek. 

The church, like a lot of churches, has a place where the dearly departed are interred. But this is not your typical cemetery or graveyard, but a “‘Memorial Garden,’ also referred to as a ‘Churchyard[,]’ [where] [p]arishoners could arrange for cremated remains (cremains” to be interred in the Churchyard by purchasing a certificate from the church.” Slip op. at 3. Those certificates included a provision that subjected the purchaser to church regulation of the Churchyard “now or hereafter in force.” Id.

Over the years, the problems besetting the church were more of the worldly variety:…

Continue Reading Mass SJC: Families Have No Common Law Property Right To Have Predecessors’ Remains Remain In Cemetery

Syllabus

Starting in January, we’ll be teaching the venerated, and oh-so-important Land Use course (Law 580) at the University of Hawaii’s Law School.

We’re at least temporarily stepping into some mighty big slippers (this is Hawaii, so we don’t always wear shoes), as this is the course that our mentor Professor David Callies taught for decades. And is there a better venue in which to teach and study land use law and regulation, and its limits? After all, Hawaii may be the most heavily-regulated land on the planet, and is a focal point for every issue you can think of, from zoning to environmental restrictions to takings to public trust to subdivision to admin law to … well, you get the drift.

We’ll cover those topics, as well as the fundamentals. And we have a few surprises up our sleeve – some impressive guest lecturers, explorations of dirt law careers…

Continue Reading Hawaii 5-80: Land Use Law At The University Of Hawaii

If you ever get the opportunity to teach in a law school — either as a full-time legal scholar, or part-time as an expert adjunct practitioner — take it if you can. You might think you know a lot about a particular subject, but there’s nothing like spending time at the lectern in a law classroom in front of sharp and eager lawyers-in-training to sharpen your thoughts, and get you to truly understand a subject.

And folks calling you “professor” can evoke a smile.

Sensei

But if there’s one downside to the law school experience from the teacher’s side of the lectern, it’s grading. Especially at a law school like William and Mary that has a pretty strict mandatory curve. In upper-division courses that we handle like Eminent Domain and Property Rights Law and Land Use — where we’re dealing with some very high-level stuff and the quality of the…

Continue Reading The Circle Is Now Complete: A Sampling Of Final Paper Topics From William and Mary Law’s Eminent Domain & Property Rights, And Land Use Courses

Screenshot_2020-11-05 Legal challenges regarding COVID-19 emergency orders

Join us next Tuesday, November 10, 2020 at 3pm ET (12 noon Pacific) for the free webinar “Shutdowns, Closures, Moratoria, and Bans,” produced by Pacific Legal Foundation and Owners’ Counsel of America.

Along with my colleagues Leslie Fields (Executive Director, OCA), and Jim Burling (PLF), I’ll be talking about the legal foundations for objections, some of the cases that have made their way to decision, and what the future might look like. To register (did I mention it was free?) go here.

Here’s the program description:

Governors and state legislatures across the country have implemented an array of policies in an attempt to contain the virus and its socioeconomic impacts. Many of these policies broadened the scope of government power while placing a heavy burden on property owners and businesses already struggling with the pandemic.

Join representatives from Pacific Legal Foundation and Owners’ Counsel of America as…

Continue Reading Join Us: Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020 (3pm ET, 12n PT) For Free (!) Webinar: “Shutdowns, Closures, Moratoria, and Bans”

This one doesn’t involve a takings claim, but since we’re tracking the cases involving coronavirus-related shut down orders and restrictions, we thought we would post this here too.

In Harvest Rock Church, Inc. v. Newsom, No. 20-55907 (Oct. 1, 2020), a panel of the Ninth Circuit rejected a church’s request for an injunction pending appeal of the District Court’s denial of a preliminary injunction. The church is challenging the California governor’s order that have the effect of restricting religious services even though the orders apparently do not expressly target religious services:

The evidence that was before the district court does not support Harvest Rock’s arguments that the Orders accord comparable secular activity more favorable treatment than religious activity. The Orders apply the same restrictions to worship services as they do to other indoor congregate events, such as lectures and movie theaters. Some congregate activities are completely prohibited in…

Continue Reading Ninth Circuit, Over Dissent, Denies Injunction For Church COVID Restrictions

News just in: we’ve just received confirmation that the Conference will not be in-person in Scottsdale in January 2021, and we’re going online.

Not a big surprise, but still a bit disappointing, and it’s a shame that the circumstances won’t allow us to meet in-person to talk shop and to renew our friendships like we do every year. 

But rest assured we’re making lemonade out of these lemons, and we’d appreciate everyone holding the dates on your calendars to join your colleagues from across the nation for the online Conference. And no, we’re not going to do two-and-a-half-days remotely, we’re paring down the agenda and will be focusing on hot topics, and great presenters. The remote format has some advantages, and we’re taking advantage of the circumstances to plan a conference more interactive and a bit different than usual.

This will also be a great program for first-time Conference participants.

Continue Reading Breaking: News About The 2021 ALI-CLE Eminent Domain & Land Valuation Litigation Conference (Jan. 28-29, 2021)

Please plan on joining us on Wednesday, July 22, 2020, at 1pm ET (10am PT) for a long-form program on “Emergency and Police Power: Property Claims in Times of Crisis.”

Our speakers are Professors Craig Konnoth (Colorado) and John Nolon (Pace), and one of the lawyers on the forefront of the nationwide legal challenges, Harmeet Dhillon (San Francisco). I’ll be moderating, along with Professor Sarah Adams-Schoen (Oregon).

Here’s the program description:

On the eve of the centennial of Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon (US 1922), this panel will revisit the question: How far can the police power be stretched to protect the public against dangers? The panel will evaluate the scope of state and local authority to respond to emergencies and the implications for private property rights—asking, how far is too far? What is the scope of implied limitations on private property rights in times of crisis? When…

Continue Reading July 22, 2020: “Emergency and Police Power: Property Claims in Times of Crisis” (ABA Webinar)

104481738_2170057539806372_2938554143515873721_nphoto: Patricia Salkin

Just published: the 2020 Zoning and Planning Law Handbook (Green Book). The first section of the Summary of Contents is about Takings, and includes as the lead piece Professor Gideon Kanner and Michael Berger’s tour-de-force article, “The Nasty, Brutish, and Short Life of Agins v. City of Tiburon.” It also includes my articles on Murr, “Restatement (SCOTUS) of Property: What Happened to Use in Murr v. Wisconsin?”

Check it out. The Green Book is a one-stop shop for the best articles on land use in a given year, and this edition includes chapters on housing, agriculture, cell tower placement, RLUIPA, and (of course) zoning.

Our thanks to Dean Patty Salkin who edited the volume for including us.

Summary of Contents, 2020 Zoning and Planing Law Handbook (Green Book)

Continue Reading Available Now: 2020 Zoning and Planning Law Handbook (Green Book)