For the second time this month, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a statement of interest in support of a church that said its rights were being violated under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).
The new case involves Grace New England, which operates as a home-based church on a five-acre private property in Weare, New Hampshire. The church conducts prayer meetings and Bible studies in a renovated barn on the property.
In October 2023, property owner Pastor Howard Kaloogian received a cease-and-desist notice from the town to stop hosting church services until a site plan was submitted for a ruling by town’s planning board. The town also threatened the church with fines if it continued to hold religious services at the property.
Kaloogian and the church sued the town in February 2024, stating the church’s RLUIPA rights were violated because the town permitted secular assemblies and events at the property prior to the introduction of the church. The church also claimed that the town’s demands and threatened fines created an impediment to its right to conduct religious services.
“RLUIPA protects the freedom of religious groups to worship without undue government interference,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. “When localities threaten fines against religious groups to force them to undertake unnecessary land use review, RLUIPA offers them an avenue for relief through the courts. The Civil Rights Division stands ready to protect the fundamental religious freedom rights of all Americans.”
Earlier this month, the DOJ filed a statement of interest in support of a claim by Summit Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, which claimed its county commissioners violated RLUIPA by denying an application to rezone nearly 100 acres of land to house a new place of worship.
