Opinion ID: 67513
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Merced’s Religious Practices4

Text: In 1990, Merced moved to Euless and began to conduct ritual sacrifices. From 1990 to 2006, Merced performed the sacrifices without any interference from Euless, initiating, on average, one new priest a year. The sacrifices take place in a room attached to Merced’s garage, which is isolated from the rest of the house. Merced purchases the animals from local markets and has them delivered to his house close to the time of the ceremony, usually about 15 minutes beforehand. There is no evidence that he had kept a four-legged animal in his home before sacrificing it for more than four hours. He keeps the animals caged outside until he kills them. Merced slits the carotid arteries of the animals to kill them humanely, and the blood is collected and offered to the orishas. The paper or plastic mats on which the sacrifices are performed are wrapped and thrown away. The edible portions of the animals are generally cooked and eaten (and some portions, like the intestines, are cooked but not eaten), and any remains are double-bagged and placed either in the trash or in a dumpster owned by another Santeria practitioner. No one had ever become sick during one of Merced’s ceremonies, which generally last for several days (such that participants would presumably be in a position to observe if someone did become ill).5 On September 4, 2004, Merced was holding a ceremony at his home. The police received an anonymous call from a neighbor and went to Merced’s house to stop the ceremony. Once there, the police called two animal control officers, who allowed Merced to finish the ceremony. In May 2006, the police received another anonymous call stating that several goats were about to be killed. Merced was, in fact, hosting a birthday celebration for which no sacrifices were 4 Except as noted in the text and below, see infra n.9, these facts are undisputed. 5 The city admitted in the pretrial order that it did not have any evidence to the contrary. 4 No. 08-10358 planned. When the officers arrived they told Merced not to conduct any sacrifices because they were likely illegal in Euless. Merced asked how he could obtain a permit for the sacrifices and was told to contact a supervisor. A few weeks later, Merced and another priest went to a permits office attempting to obtain a permit. They were told by two different employees that no such permit existed because animal slaughter was strictly prohibited. Merced ceased performing the sacrifices illegal in Euless (although he continued to perform Santeria rituals that are not prohibited). Merced has delayed initiating an aspiring priest because the ceremony must be performed in his home and he cannot perform it legally. Merced is willing to comply with any disposal or health standards that Euless might create, but the city denied the availability of a permit or exception for sacrificing four-legged animals, and intends to prosecute Merced if he attempts any further sacrifices of four-legged animals. On December 22, 2006, Merced filed a complaint against Euless and several city officials alleging violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc, the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments, and TRFRA. The district court dismissed the suit as to the individual defendants because they had been sued in their personal capacities. In December, 2007, the district court dismissed the RLUIPA claim because no zoning laws were at issue. The parties conducted discovery and proceeded to trial.