Court Upholds School Board's Use of Eminent Domain To Take Church Land

In Nash County, North Carolina, a Superior Court judge has ruled that the Nash-Rocky Mountain Board of Education may use eminent domain to take the property of Life United Pentecostal Church. Yesterday's Rocky Mountain Telegram reports that the court rejected the church's challenge to the authority of the Board and its claim that the taking violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The school board, which has already purchased 59 acres of land surrounding the church's property, says that this is the only site in its attendance zone that is suitable for the new Rocky Mountain High School.