Opinion ID: 2562740
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The City's Application of a Moratorium To Deny the Permit Application Violated the Church's Exercise of Religion

Text: ¶ 14 Washington's constitution guarantees, [a]bsolute freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment, belief and worship and also provides that this shall not be so construed as to ... justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the state. WASH. CONST. art. I, § 11. ¶ 15 The Court of Appeals did not decide whether this guaranty of our constitution is broader than the federal constitutional protection for religious freedom because the Church did not offer a complete analysis of the difference between the state and federal constitutions. Northshore United Church, 139 Wash.App. at 654, 162 P.3d 427. ¶ 16 State v. Gunwall, 106 Wash.2d 54, 720 P.2d 808 (1986) articulates standards to determine when and how Washington's constitution provides different protection of rights than the United States Constitution. Id. at 58, 720 P.2d 808. Litigants brief the differences when we are faced with deciding whether a parallel constitutional provision affords differing protections. State v. Reichenbach, 153 Wash.2d 126, 131 n. 1, 101 P.3d 80 (2004). But where we have already determined in a particular context the appropriate state constitutional analysis under a provision of the Washington State Constitution, it is unnecessary to provide a threshold Gunwall analysis. Id. ¶ 17 A strict rule that courts will not consider state constitutional claims without a complete Gunwall analysis could return briefing into an antiquated writ system where parties may lose their constitutional rights by failing to incant correctly. Gunwall is better understood to prescribe appropriate arguments: if the parties provide argument on state constitutional provisions and citation, a court may consider the issue. This is especially true where, as in many areas, the special protections of our state constitution have been previously recognized by this court. Listing the Gunwall factors is a helpful approach when arguing how Washington's constitution provides greater rights than its federal counterpart. But failing to subhead a brief with each factor does not foreclose constitutional argument. ¶ 18 Here, numerous cases in this court have already decided that the article I, section 11 freedom of religious sentiment, belief and worship absolutely protects the free exercise of religion, [and] extends broader protection than the first amendment to the federal constitution.... First Covenant Church v. City of Seattle, 120 Wash.2d 203, 229-30, 840 P.2d 174 (1992). The Church has more protection under Washington's constitution. ¶ 19 Proceeding under article I, section 11, a party challenging government action must show two things: that the belief is sincere and that the government action burdens the exercise of religion. Open Door Baptist Church v. Clark County, 140 Wash.2d 143, 152, 995 P.2d 33 (2000). The government must then show it has a narrow means for achieving a compelling goal. [3] Id. ¶ 20 There is no issue raised here of whether hosting Tent City is important or central to the Church's exercise (though the Church has never before engaged in such practice around or in its church). The City conceded in its briefing in this case the Church's sincerity of belief. The City has also not argued in its briefing that the moratorium fulfills a compelling goal and only offered argument that the moratorium did not substantially burden the Church's free exercise of religion. Thus, the only issue presented is whether the City's actions substantially burden the free exercise of the Church's religious sentiment, belief [or] worship. ¶ 21 Government burdens religious exercise [i]f the `coercive effect of [an] enactment' operates against a party `in the practice of his religion....' First Covenant, 120 Wash.2d at 226, 840 P.2d 174 (alteration in original). This does not mean any slight burden is invalid, however. [4] If the constitution forbade all government actions that worked some burden by minimally affecting sentiment, belief [or] worship, then any church actions argued to be part of religious exercise would be totally free from government regulation. Our constitution expressly provides to the contrary. The argued burden on religious exercise must be more, it must be substantial. Here, the total refusal to process a permit application is such a burden. ¶ 22 Unconstitutional burdens through government regulation were found in the two decisions of this court: Munns v. Martin, 131 Wash.2d 192, 930 P.2d 318 (1997) and Open Door. In Munns, St. Patrick's School was a state historic site and the Bishop of Spokane intended to change the church building use to a pastoral center. Id. at 195, 930 P.2d 318. Petitioner sought to enforce an ordinance to delay permitting for up to 14 months. This court held the potential burden of delay created an unconstitutional burden. Id. at 207, 930 P.2d 318. In Open Door, a church bought a building intending to renew its use as a place of worship, and the county ordered the church to apply for a conditional use permit. Open Door, 140 Wash.2d at 145-46, 995 P.2d 33. Clark County allowed the church to continue operating pending decision on an application, but the church brought suit rather than go through the process. We held the burden of properly applying for a permit was not an excessive burden on religion expressly noting, we are not confronted in the case with the denial of a conditional use permit application.... Id. at 149, 995 P.2d 33. If any government burden, such as applying for permits, were unconstitutional, we would have decided Open Door differently. ¶ 23 These cases conclude that a burden can be a slight inconvenience without violating article I, section 11, but the State cannot impose substantial burden on exercise of religion. See also First United Methodist Church v. Hearing Examiner, 129 Wash.2d 238, 249, 916 P.2d 374 (1996) (landmark designation reducing value of a church by half is an excessive burden). ¶ 24 Any state burden must be evaluated in the context in which it arises. The City properly did not dispute in court the sincerity of the beliefs nor their importance to believers. Housing the homeless may be a part of religious belief or practice, but it is different from prayer or services, for example, which are at the core of protected worship. The Church has never before hosted the homeless on or in its property but has long continued to worship in a manner preferred by its congregation. ¶ 25 The context for the constitutional evaluation of any burden necessarily encompasses impact on others in the city. Housing the homeless affects those outside the church in a way that private prayer or religious services inside the church buildings do not. Indeed, a homeless encampment likely affects the neighbors who live nearby far more than it impacts most parishioners who spend only hours in church weekly while neighbors must live continuously with the encampment. Cities may mediate these externalities reflecting concerns for safety, noise, and crime but may not outright deny consideration of permitting. By way of analogy, while healing the sick is similarly connected to worship, a church must still comply with reasonable permitting processes if it wants to operate a hospital or clinic. This notion is expressly reflected in article I, section 11 providing, the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to ... justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the state. ¶ 26 Applying these principles, the City's total moratorium placed a substantial burden on the Church. It prevented the Church from even applying for a permit. It gave the Church no alternatives. The moratorium lasted a full year, nearly equaling the 14 month moratorium we held improper in Munns, 131 Wash.2d at 195, 207, 930 P.2d 318. The City failed to show that the moratorium was a narrow means for achieving a compelling goal. Therefore, the City's action constituted a violation of article I, section 11 of our constitution. ¶ 27 Since we hold for the Church on state constitutional grounds, we need not, and therefore do not, decide whether there is violation of RLUIPA. Our decision rests solely on our state constitution. See First Covenant Church, 120 Wash.2d at 228, 840 P.2d 174.