DOJ Sues Under RLUIPA On Behalf of Chabad

Last week, the US Department of Justice filed suit against the city of Hollywood, Florida over its denial of a zoning variance to Chabad Lubvitch. The Hassidic Jewish group wants to use two adjacent homes in a residential neighborhood as a synagogue. This is only the second time the government itself has brought a suit over religious zoning discrimination under the 2000 Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). The Sun Sentinel reports today that city officials fear they will lose the case. A case challenging the constitutionality of RLUIPA as applied to prisoner rights is pending in the US Supreme Court.