FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ADF-allied attorney available to media after hearing in important religious land use case
City of Chicago challenges federal law in Christian ministry’s lawsuit, U.S. Dept. of Justice defends law in briefThursday, October 29, 2009
WHO: ADF-allied attorney John Mauck
WHAT: Available for media interviews following hearing in World Outreach Conference Center v. City of Chicago
WHEN: Immediately after hearing, which begins at 9:30 a.m. CDT, Friday, Oct. 30
WHERE: Dirksen Court House (Main Court House), Room 2721, 219 S. Dearborn St., Chicago
CHICAGO — Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney John Mauck will be available for media interviews following his oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit Friday in an important religious land use battle that heated up when the city of Chicago blocked the use of a Christian ministry’s property for Hurricane Katrina victims. ADF has provided funding for the case.
“City zoning restrictions should not be used to shut down existing religious community services just because the city wants to have a building used for other purposes,” said Mauck, with the Chicago firm of Mauck & Baker, LLC. “Federal law protects ministries from being targeted by zoning regulations, and that law has been upheld repeatedly by the courts.”
The city originally sued World Outreach Conference Center to shut its outreach ministry and community center down even though its building has operated as a community center since 1926. The city also refused to allow the ministry to house people displaced and made homeless by Hurricane Katrina even though the request came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Chicago officials eventually issued a permit for part of the ministry’s property and dismissed their lawsuit against WOCC.
The ministry then sued under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act for the city’s refusal to fully recognize the property for its ministry’s purposes. As a result of the lawsuit, the city has challenged RLUIPA itself, which is a federal law that protects churches against such treatment. The move prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to submit a brief in defense of the law.
“We appreciate the brief submitted by the Department of Justice and concur that RLUIPA is completely constitutional,” said Mauck. “We trust the 7th Circuit will agree and will also uphold the constitutional rights of this ministry so that it can continue to serve the community by caring for the homeless.”
WOCC argues in its most recent reply brief in the case that the city of Chicago “fails to address the actions of various city officials, city attorneys and city employees who threw up multiple roadblocks at the entrance to this legally unnecessary process.”
In its brief in defense of RLUIPA, the U.S. Department of Justice also notes that the city forfeited its right to challenge the federal law because it did not raise the argument during district court proceedings.
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
CHICAGO — Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney John Mauck will be available for media interviews following his oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit Friday in an important religious land use battle that heated up when the city of Chicago blocked the use of a Christian ministry’s property for Hurricane Katrina victims. ADF has provided funding for the case.
“City zoning restrictions should not be used to shut down existing religious community services just because the city wants to have a building used for other purposes,” said Mauck, with the Chicago firm of Mauck & Baker, LLC. “Federal law protects ministries from being targeted by zoning regulations, and that law has been upheld repeatedly by the courts.”
The city originally sued World Outreach Conference Center to shut its outreach ministry and community center down even though its building has operated as a community center since 1926. The city also refused to allow the ministry to house people displaced and made homeless by Hurricane Katrina even though the request came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Chicago officials eventually issued a permit for part of the ministry’s property and dismissed their lawsuit against WOCC.
The ministry then sued under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act for the city’s refusal to fully recognize the property for its ministry’s purposes. As a result of the lawsuit, the city has challenged RLUIPA itself, which is a federal law that protects churches against such treatment. The move prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to submit a brief in defense of the law.
“We appreciate the brief submitted by the Department of Justice and concur that RLUIPA is completely constitutional,” said Mauck. “We trust the 7th Circuit will agree and will also uphold the constitutional rights of this ministry so that it can continue to serve the community by caring for the homeless.”
WOCC argues in its most recent reply brief in the case that the city of Chicago “fails to address the actions of various city officials, city attorneys and city employees who threw up multiple roadblocks at the entrance to this legally unnecessary process.”
In its brief in defense of RLUIPA, the U.S. Department of Justice also notes that the city forfeited its right to challenge the federal law because it did not raise the argument during district court proceedings.
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
LEGAL DOCS
Plaintiff’s reply brief: WOCC v. City of Chicago
U.S. Dept. of Justice brief: WOCC v. City of Chicago
RELATED RESOURCES
ABOUT John W. Mauck
John W. Mauck is an allied attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund. As a partner in the Chicago firm of Mauck & Baker, LLC, he has focused his practice on constitutional law, freedom of speech and religion, and religious land use cases. Mauck earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1972. He is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, the Christian Legal Society, and its board. He is also admitted to the bar in the state of Illinois, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.