U.S. Department of Justice 

Civil Rights Division 

Protecting the


Religious Freedom


of All:


Federal Laws Against


Religious Discrimination


“In this Land of equal liberty it is 

our boast, that a man’s religious 

tenets will not forfeit the protection 

of the Laws, nor deprive him of the 

right of attaining and holding the 

highest Offices that are known in 

the United States.” 

George Washington 
INTRODUCTION 

Religious liberty was central to the Founders’ 

vision for America, and is the “first freedom” 

listed in the First Amendment of the Bill of 

Rights. A critical component of religious liberty 

is the right of people of all faiths to participate 

fully in the benefits and privileges of society 

without facing discrimination based on their religion. 

The Civil Rights Division of the Department of 

Justice enforces federal statutes that prohibit discrimination based on religion in education, 

employment, housing, public accommodations, 

and access to public facilities. In addition, the 

Civil Rights Division prosecutes bias crimes 

committed against individuals because of their 

religion and acts of vandalism and arson against 

houses of worship. The Civil Rights Division 

also is authorized to bring suit to enforce the 

Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons 

Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), which protects individuals 

and houses of worship from discriminatory and 

unduly burdensome zoning regulations, and protects the religious exercise of prisoners and other 

institutionalized persons. 

This brochure provides an introduction to the 

laws against religious discrimination enforced 

by the Department of Justice, and information on 

how to report claims to the various sections of 

the Civil Rights Division and where to learn 

more about your rights. 

1

Education 

❖ A group of students form a Bible club and 

ask for permission to meet in a classroom 

before school. While other student-created 

groups are given meeting space, the Bible 

club is barred because it is religious. 

❖ Two Muslim sisters are told by a school 

principal that they cannot wear their hijabs 

(head-covering scarves) to school due to a 

no-hats policy, despite the fact that the 

school has made exceptions to the policy 

for other students. 

❖ A teacher berates a student in front of the 

class because he does not share the faith of 

the teacher and the rest of the class, leading 

to repeated harassment of the student by 

other children. 

These examples may be violations of federal 

law, which prohibits the denial of educational 

opportunities because of a person’s religion. The 

Division’s Educational Opportunities Section 

enforces these laws in elementary and secondary 

schools, as well as public colleges and universities. The Educational Opportunities Section’s 

work addresses discrimination in all aspects of 

education, including curricular and extracurricular activities, the transportation of students, the 

hiring and placement of faculty and administrators, and distribution of school resources. 

2

If you believe that you or your child has been 

denied access to an educational program or otherwise discriminated against by a school operated by a state or local government, you can contact the Division’s Educational Opportunities 

Section toll free at (877) 292-3804, or write to: 

Educational Opportunities Section – PHB, Civil 

Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 950 

Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 

20530. Further information is available at 

www.usdoj.gov/crt/edo. 

Employment Discrimination 

❖ A Jewish instructor for a county job training program is told that he may not wear 

his yarmulke while teaching classes. 

❖ A store clerk who is a Seventh-day Adventist 

is scheduled to work on a Saturday, his 

Sabbath. Despite the willingness of a coworker with the same level of experience to switch 

shifts with him, his supervisor tells him that 

he must work Saturday or be fired. 

❖ A supervisor passes over a qualified Mormon 

applicant for a job and is later overheard 

saying to a colleague that he would not feel 

comfortable working closely with a Mormon. 

These examples may be violations of Title VII of 

the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits 

discrimination against persons based on their 

religion in hiring, promotion, or in the terms and 

3

conditions of employment. Title VII also requires 

that employers reasonably accommodate the religious needs of employees, such as Sabbath observance, if it would not be an undue burden on the 

employer to do so. If you believe that an employer, 

a labor organization or an employment agency has 

discriminated against you because of your religion, 

or has refused to make a reasonable accommodation of your religious needs, you may call the U.S. 

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 

(EEOC) at (800) 669-4000 to be put in contact with 

the EEOC office nearest you. 

The Civil Rights Division handles individual 

cases of religious discrimination against state and 

local government employers upon referral from 

the EEOC. The Civil Rights Division also has 

authority to bring suit against state or local government employers when there is a pattern of 

activity or a policy that violates Title VII. If you 

believe a state or local government has violated 

your rights under Title VII, you can call the 

Division's Employment Litigation Section at 

(202) 514-3831, or write to: Employment Litigation 

Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of 

Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, 

D.C. 20530. Further information is available at 

ww.usdoj.gov/crt/emp. 

Housing 

❖ An apartment complex has a meeting room 

that is available for residents to reserve for 

card games, social activities, and similar 

4

events. A resident is told that she may not 

use the room to hold a Bible study with 

friends. 

❖ A Sikh man wearing a turban is told by a 

landlord that there are no apartments available in a complex, but later the same day 

the landlord tells other prospective tenants 

that there are units available. 

❖ A tenant in public housing places a statue of 

the Virgin Mary on her balcony. Although 

other tenants are permitted to place similarly 

sized decorative objects on their balconies, 

the property manager says that religious 

items are not allowed in public housing. 

These examples may be violations of the Fair 

Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in 

the sale or rental of housing, including refusal to 

rent or sell to someone based on his or her religion and discrimination based on religion in the 

terms, conditions, or privileges of a sale or 

rental. The Civil Rights Division's Housing and 

Civil Enforcement Section ((800) 896-7743) handles cases involving either a pattern or practice of 

discrimination or a denial of rights to a group of 

persons when such denial raises an issue of general public importance, while the U.S. Department of 

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) ((800) 

669-9777) investigates individual complaints of 

housing discrimination. The section’s mailing 

address is: Housing and Civil Enforcement 

Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of 

5

Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, 

D.C. 20530. Further information is available at 

www.usdoj.gov/crt/housing. 

Public Accommodations and Facilities 

❖ A town rents its community center to local 

groups for meetings, but refuses to rent it to 

a local Hindu group that wants to hold a 

Divali festival and a group that wants to 

hold a Christian music concert. The town 

tells both groups that it has a no-religiousactivities policy at the center. 

❖ Three Buddhist monks go out to a restaurant 

wearing robes, but the proprietor says “we 

don’t allow religious clothes in here. Come 

back when you are dressed normally.” 

These examples may be violations of federal law. 

Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits 

discrimination based on religion in public accommodations, such as restaurants, theaters, and hotels. 

Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits 

discrimination based on religion in public facilities 

owned or operated by a state or local government. 

The Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement 

Section (contact information above) enforces these 

statutes and ensures that religious individuals and 

institutions have equal access to public facilities 

and accommodations. Further information is available at www.usdoj.gov/crt/housing. 

6

Zoning and Landmarking Laws 

❖ A small church is denied a permit to operate out of a storefront in a commercial zone, 

even though nonprofit groups including fraternal lodges, a dance studio, and a theater 

company are permitted in the same zone. 

❖ A town’s zoning ordinance requires all houses of worship to obtain a variance in order to 

locate within its borders. While there are a 

number of churches already in town, every 

application for a new house of worship since 

the ordinance was adopted has been denied. 

❖ A rabbi periodically holds prayer meetings 

in his home with 10 to 15 people. He is cited 

for zoning violations for operating a house 

of worship in a residential zone. 

❖ A Hindu congregation is denied a building 

permit despite meeting all zoning requirements for height, setback, and parking. The 

zoning administrator is overheard making a 

disparaging remark about Hindus. 

These examples may be violations of the Religious 

Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 

2000 (RLUIPA), which protects individuals, 

houses of worship, and other religious institutions from zoning and landmarking laws that 

substantially burden religious exercise without a 

compelling government justification. RLUIPA 

also bars the government from applying zoning 

7

and landmarking laws in a manner that discriminates against particular religions, treats religious 

assemblies or institutions on less than equal 

terms than nonreligious assemblies or institutions, or unreasonably excludes houses of worship from a jurisdiction. The Civil Rights Division 

is authorized to bring suit to enforce RLUIPA. If 

you believe your rights against discriminatory or 

unduly burdensome zoning and landmarking laws 

have been violated, you may contact the Division’s 

Housing and Civil Enforcement Section (contact 

information above). More information is available 

at www.usdoj.gov/crt/housing/rluipaexplain.htm. 

Religious Exercise of 

Institutionalized Persons 

❖ A prison makes no provision for kosher 

meals, despite the repeated requests of 

three Jewish prisoners who have identified 

a low-cost provider of such meals. 

❖ Catholic prisoners seek space in a prison 

chapel on Sunday and permission for a volunteer priest to come in to say Mass, but are 

told that they should attend the nondenominational Christian service run by the prison’s 

Protestant chaplain. 

❖ A Native American prisoner has his medicine bag confiscated during intake to a 

prison, although other prisoners are permitted to keep rosary beads, crosses, and other 

physically equivalent small religious items. 

8

RLUIPA, discussed with regard to zoning and 

landmarking law above, also contains a provision protecting the religious exercise of inmates 

and other persons confined to certain institutions. RLUIPA requires that actions by officials 

which impose a substantial burden on the institutionalized person’s religious exercise must be 

justified by a compelling government interest 

and must be the least restrictive means available 

to achieve that interest. The Division’s Special 

Litigation Section ((202) 514-6255) is authorized 

to bring RLUIPA cases involving institutionalized 

persons. The mailing address is: Special Litigation 

Section, U.S. Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20530. 

Further information is available at www.usdoj.gov/ 

crt/split. 

Crimes Against Persons and Property 

❖ A mosque is spray-painted with anti-Muslim 

graffiti. 

❖ Shortly after a Jewish family moves into a 

neighborhood, a brick painted with a 

swastika is thrown through their window. 

❖ A Sikh man wearing a turban goes to a 

restaurant, but a group of teenagers loitering in front tells him that if he tries to enter 

wearing the turban they will beat him up. 

❖ Three white men intentionally set fire to an 

African Methodist Episcopal church on a 

9

Saturday night. One of the men later is 

overheard in a bar laughing about the fire 

and making racial remarks. 

These examples may be criminal violations of 

federal civil rights laws. It is a federal crime to 

injure, threaten, or intimidate people because of 

their religion in order to interfere with their exercise of federally guaranteed rights, such as the 

purchase or rental of a home, patronage of public accommodations such as restaurants and theaters, use of public parks and other facilities, 

attendance at a school or college, or participation 

in government programs. Federal law also criminalizes arson and vandalism against houses of 

worship committed either because of the race or 

ethnicity of the group using the property or, in 

certain circumstances, because of the religious 

nature of the property. If you have been the victim of a bias-related crime, you should call your 

local police and the nearest local office of the 

Federal Bureau of Investigation. You also may 

call your local U.S. Attorney’s office. The FBI 

and U.S. Attorneys have publicly listed offices in 

most major cities. In addition, you may call the 

Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division at 

(202) 514-3204. The mailing address is: 

Criminal Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. 

Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave., 

N.W., Washington, D.C. 20530. Further information is available at www.usdoj.gov/crt/crim. 

10

Special Counsel for Religious 

Discrimination 

In order to coordinate cases involving religionbased discrimination among the various sections 

of the Civil Rights Division, and to oversee outreach efforts to religious communities, the 

Justice Department has created the position of 

Special Counsel for Religious Discrimination. If 

you are unsure which section of the Civil Rights 

Division to contact, or if you have any problems 

reaching one of the sections listed above, you 

may call the Special Counsel’s office at (202) 

353-8622 (voice) or (202) 514-0716 (TDD), or 

write to: Special Counsel for Religious 

Discrimination, Office of the Assistant Attorney 

General, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department 

of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., 

Room 5531, Washington, D.C. 20530. Further 

information about the Civil Rights Division’s 

initiatives to fight religious discrimination is available at www.usdoj.gov/crt/religdisc/religdisc.html. 

11

Protecting the Religious Freedom


of All:


Federal Laws Against Religious


Discrimination


http://www.usdoj.gov/crt 

June 2005