Friday, December 31, 2010  Circuit upholds religious
discrimination injunction against NYC  The Religious Land Use
and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) makes it illegal for
the government to discriminate against religious institutions in
zoning decisions. When the Third Church of Christ in Manhattan
decided to increase revenue by also using the building for
private food catering, it sought an accessory-use permit from
the City, which said no. The district court entered a
preliminary injunction in the church's favor.  The case is Third
Church of Christ v. City of New York, decided on December 1. The
problem for the City is that while it said No to the church, it
said Yes to non-religious entities (hotels) in the neighborhood
who wanted to offer similar catering and event services. We call
that discrimination. At least the Second Circuit (Calabresi,
Katzmann and Chin) does.  How do we define discrimination? We
may know it when we see it, but that formula is not in the
statute. Courts have to figure out wh