November 6, 2000
New law protects churches on zoning
___By Kenny Byrd
___Associated Baptist Press
___WASHINGTON (ABP)--President Bill Clinton has signed into law a bill providing houses of worship with greater protection from zoning restrictions.
___The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act also gives individuals in government-run prisons, hospitals and group homes greater protection for religious exercises that sometimes conflict with broad, generally applicable rules.
___The measure, sponsored by Reps. Charles Canady, R-Fla., Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Chet Edwards, D-Texas, as well as Senators Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., had broad bipartisan support.
___The measure has been a top priority of a coalition of more than 50 religious and civil-liberties groups that first formed to pass the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Parts of RFRA failed a constitutional challenge in the Supreme Court in 1997.
___Groups from across the political spectrum joined the coalition. It included the conservative Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and the liberal American Civil Liberties Union and People For the American Way.
___The Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs chaired the religious coalition. Some other groups in the coalition included the American Baptist Churches, American Jewish Congress, American Jewish Committee, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Family Research Council, Prison Fellowship Ministries and groups representing Muslims, Catholics and a variety of Protestants.
___Melissa Rogers, BJC general counsel, released a statement saying the new law "ensures, for example, that a home Bible study or prayer gathering will be treated with at least as much dignity as a Tupperware party or a backyard barbecue."
___Rogers, who attended the Oval Office signing, also said the bill would protect people confined to state residential facilities, such as homes for the disabled and correctional facilities, "without compromising security and order in these facilities."
___The bill would not exempt churches from zoning regulations, but it would require zoning officials to have a compelling reason when they substantially burden religious exercise. It also would require zoning officials to treat religious applicants at least as well as secular ones.
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!