Opinion ID: 613834
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Homeless Shelters and Plaintiff Chinn

Text: At the time relevant to this appeal, Defendant operated two homeless shelters in Boise: the Front Street Men's Mission (the Front Street Shelter) and the River of Life Rescue Mission (the River of Life Shelter). Only people with no other safe place to go may stay at Defendant's shelters. Guests who stay there must complete and sign an intake form, which asks them questions about their background. Although Defendant accepts people of all faiths, the intake form tells guests: This is a Gospel Rescue Mission. Gospel means `Good News,' and the Good News is that Jesus saves us from sin past, present, and future. We would like to share the Good News with you. Have you heard of Jesus? Guests also must read and acknowledge the emergency shelter's rules, which include the following guidelines: [Defendant] offers a variety of religious services, such as chapel services, pre-meal prayers and morning devotions. [Defendant] encourages [guests] to attend those services for [their] own spiritual growth and development, but [guests] are not required to attend any religious services as a condition of receiving services from [Defendant]. New guests receive some personal items and a bed assignment, which may require that they sleep on the floor if the number of guests exceeds the number of beds. No one gets a private room. Guests who intend to return for the next night must make their beds and store their pajamas under their pillows. They may not leave any other personal items in the shelter after they leave for the day. Defendant does not charge its guests any fee for using its shelters. Guests may stay for a maximum of seventeen consecutive nights during the warm months. Defendant imposes no limit on the number of nights that guests may stay during the cold months. Defendant bars services for thirty days for guests who do not come back to the shelter during their intended stay to help prevent the shelter from becoming an `occasional shelter' that helps enable a homeless lifestyle for the chronically homeless. Defendant provides spiritual guidance, Christian counseling, and Christian religious services to those who stay at its shelters. It conducts numerous religious activities every day, including worship services, [B]ible studies and prayer. Chinn stayed at the Front Street Shelter in May 2005 and again in October, November, and December 2005. He also stayed at the River of Life Shelter in October 2005. When he first arrived at the Front Street Shelter, Defendant's staff told Chinn that he would have to participate in Christian religious activities if he wanted to stay and eat there. He later observed that Defendant's staff forced guests who did not attend religious services to wait outside or in the dining room until those services had ended. He also observed that Defendant's staff made guests who had not attended services wait to eat until those who had attended services obtained their food. As a consequence, guests who did not attend services received substitute food of inferior quality when the prepared food ran out. Chinn noticed the same practices at the River of Life Shelter. According to Chinn, fifteen to twenty of Defendant's fifty to seventy guests did not attend services because they resented the requirement. The services offended Chinn in particular because he is Mormon. Chinn frequently heard Defendant's staff make derogatory comments about the Mormon faith, sometimes calling it a cult. Because of Defendant's discriminatory practices and attitudes, Chinn stopped staying at its shelters. Chinn also filed a complaint with HUD, similarly alleging religious discrimination in violation of the FHA. HUD investigated Chinn's complaint but found no reasonable cause ... to believe that a discriminatory housing practice [had] occurred. HUD disbelieved Chinn's allegations, finding that there did not appear to be any repercussions for not attending [religious services] and in one facility nearly [one-third] of the guests did not attend. HUD dismissed Chinn's complaint.