Demolition Permit Denial Violates Free Exercise Clause

In Mount St. Scholastica, Inc. v. City Of Atchison, 2007 WL 782196 (D KA, March 12, 2007), a Kansas federal district court held that application of the Kansas Historic Preservation Act to deny a demolition permit to a religious monastic community violates the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment. Applying 10th Circuit precedent, the court held that because the law provides for individualized determinations, a strict scrutiny test is to be applied to the government's decisions. In cases of religious hardship the government must have a compelling reason to refuse to grant an exemption from the historic preservation law's requirements. Historic preservation is not a compelling governmental interest. [Thanks to Eugene Volokh via Religionlaw for the lead.]