Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 5 of 5
Full-Text Articles in Law
The Effect Of Rluipa's Land Use Provisions On Local Government, Alan C. Weinstein
The Effect Of Rluipa's Land Use Provisions On Local Government, Alan C. Weinstein
Law Faculty Articles and Essays
In the absence of perfect information about how RLUIPA has affected local governments, this article argues that the courts have adopted a pragmatic approach to maneuvering in the difficult terrain that RLUIPA occupies: combining appropriate judicial deference to a legislature that enacts a neutral law of general applicability with the heightened judicial scrutiny that becomes appropriate when that same law is applied to a specific zoning approval, a circumstance that frequently allows for subjectivity, and thus the potential for discrimination or arbitrariness against religious uses, in the approval process. I conclude that: (1) until proven otherwise, the costs RLUIPA undoubtedly …
Justice John Paul Stevens - His Take On Takings, Alan C. Weinstein
Justice John Paul Stevens - His Take On Takings, Alan C. Weinstein
Law Faculty Articles and Essays
This commentary reviews and analyzes Justice John Paul Stevens's role in shaping the Court's views on the takings issue in land use regulation.
How To Avoid A "Holy War" -- Dealing With Potential Rluipa Claims, Alan C. Weinstein
How To Avoid A "Holy War" -- Dealing With Potential Rluipa Claims, Alan C. Weinstein
Law Faculty Articles and Essays
This article discusses how local government can seek to avoid a claim being brought against it under the Religious Land Use & Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). Thus, the focus is not on what steps a local government should take when a RLUIPA claim is brought - or threatened to be brought - against it, but focuses instead on what steps local governments should take to seek to avoid a RLUIPA claim in the first place. After reviewing both the changing context of religious observance in the United States, and RLUIPA decisions to date, the article concludes that we are clearly …
Rluipa: Where Are We Now? Where Are We Heading?, Alan C. Weinstein
Rluipa: Where Are We Now? Where Are We Heading?, Alan C. Weinstein
Law Faculty Articles and Essays
Over the past three years, hardly a week has gone by without at least one news-story announcing that a church, synagogue, or religious school-I'll use the term “church” from here on as a shorthand for all houses of worship or other religious institutions—is claiming that its right to religious freedom is being infringed by local government land use regulations in violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. RLUIPA, a federal statute signed into law in September 2000, was enacted to restore to full vigor legal protection for religious freedoms that the Act's proponents argue had been seriously …
Billboards, Aesthetics, And The First Amendment: Municipal Sign Regulation After Metromedia, Alan Weinstein
Billboards, Aesthetics, And The First Amendment: Municipal Sign Regulation After Metromedia, Alan Weinstein
Law Faculty Articles and Essays
In Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego, 453 U.S. 490 (1981), 33 ZD 238, the U.S. Supreme Court, although sharply divided, held that states and municipalities could regulate signs and billboards to reduce traffic hazards and improve a community's appearance, but cautioned that regulations which imposed too many restrictions on protected First Amendment rights to freedom of speech would be struck down. The nine Supreme Court justices wrote five separate opinions in Metromedia, struggling to find a workable accommodation between free speech guarantees and the deference normally granted to a municipality's exercise of the police power.' This article, after …