According to a three-judge panel of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, if a jurisdiction decides to ban religious schools from locating within them, that’s not a “substantial burden” on the free exercise of religion. The panel released its decision Friday afternoon, telling a Genoa Township, Mich., it was allowed to forbid Livingston Christian School from locating with
in its jurisdiction. Attorneys for First Liberty Institute had argued on the school’s behalf that the ban put a substantial burden on its right to exist as a Christian ministry, in violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. In the opinion, written by Circuit Judge Ronald Lee Gilman, the panel determined that the township was allowed to reject the school at the proposed location because two other suitable locations nearby were readily available as alternative sites. READ MORE
