Opinion ID: 3025336
Heading Depth: 6
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Must a plaintiff in an action under

Text: RLUIPA’s Equal Terms provision show that the alleged discriminatory land-use regulation imposes a “substantial burden” on its religious exercise? The District Court held that a plaintiff raising a claim under the Equal Terms provision must show that the challenged land-use regulation imposed a “substantial burden” on its exercise of religion. We disagree because the structure of the statute and the legislative history clearly reveal that the substantial burden requirement does not apply to claims under 2(b)(1), the Equal Terms provision. Section 2(b)(1) does not include “substantial burden” as an element; section 2(a)(1), the Substantial Burdens section, titled as such, does. Since Congress evidently knew how to require a showing of a substantial burden, it must have intended not to do so in the Equal Terms provision. See Russello v. United States, 464 U.S. 16, 23 (1983) (“where Congress 21 includes particular language in one section of a statute but omits it in another section of the same Act, it is generally presumed that Congress acts intentionally and purposely in the disparate inclusion or exclusion”). The legislative history supports the conclusion that the Equal Terms provision does not incorporate a substantial burden requirement. In presenting the bill for consideration, co-sponsor Senator Hatch stated RLUIPA would “ensure that if a government action substantially burdens the exercise of religion . . ., the government must demonstrate that imposing the burden serves a compelling public interest and does so by the least restrictive means. In addition, with respect to land use regulation, the bill specifically prohibits various forms of religious discrimination and exclusion.” 146 Cong. Rec. S7774 (emphasis added). Neither the House nor the Senate sponsors’ analyses mention the phrase “substantial burden” in connection with the Discrimination and Exclusion section or its Equal Terms subpart. See 146 Cong. Rec. E1563 and 146 Cong. Rec. S7774. The statements by the bill’s sponsors, quoted by the District Court in support of its construction of the Equal Terms provision, are not persuasive evidence of contrary legislative intent. See Lighthouse II, 406 F. Supp. at 519 (quoting 146 Cong. Rec. S7774-7776) (joint statement of Sen. Hatch and Sen. Kennedy). First, the court quoted the Senate sponsors’ statement that the Equal Terms provision “enforce[s] the Free Exercise Clause against laws that burden religion and are not neutral and generally applicable.” The use of the word “burden” in this context, however, is descriptive of the area at which the 22 statute is targeted; it does not create a “substantial burden” element in the provisions of 2 (b)(1). Moreover, cases interpreting the First Amendment’s Free Exercise clause do not require a plaintiff, challenging a discriminatory regulation, to show that it imposes a substantial burden on plaintiff’s religious exercise. See Tenafly Eruv Ass’n v. Borough of Tenafly, 309 F.3d 144, 170 (3d Cir. 2002) (“Under Smith and Lukumi . . . there is no substantial burden requirement when government discriminates against religious conduct”). It follows then that there is no requirement that a statute, like the Equal Terms provision of RLUIPA, which enforces the Free Exercise clause, include such a burden as a required element of proof. Second, the District Court relied on the statement in the legislative history that “the party asserting a violation of this Act shall in all cases bear the burden of proof that the governmental action in question constitutes a substantial burden on religious exercise.” This is a commentary on RLUIPA’s burden-shifting provision, which directs that “[i]f a plaintiff produces prima facie evidence to support a claim alleging a violation of the Free Exercise Clause or a violation of section 2000cc of this title, the government shall bear the burden of persuasion of any element of the claim” except that the plaintiff retains the burden of proof on substantial burden. 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc-2(b). This provision and the Senate sponsors’ statement on it merely establish that, where substantial burden is an element of the claim, the plaintiff must prove it; they do not address when substantial burden is such an element. 23 Finally, the District Court cites the proposition that the Discrimination and Exclusion section “directly address[es] some of the more egregious forms of land use regulation, and provides more precise standards than the substantial burden and compelling interest tests.” This statement differentiates between the substantial burden test and the “more precise standards” of section 2(b). Thus, it detracts from, rather than lending support to, the District Court’s construction. The two Courts of Appeals that have interpreted RLUIPA’s Equal Terms provision have agreed that a plaintiff need not show substantial burden to prevail under it. See Konikov v. Orange County, 410 F.3d 1317, 1327-29 (11th Cir. 2005) (holding that although the zoning code at issue did not impose a substantial burden on plaintiff’s religious exercise, it violated RLUIPA’s equal terms provision because it was enforced in a way that treated religious organizations on less than equal terms with secular ones); Midrash Sephardi, Inc. v. Town of Surfside, 366 F.3d 1214, 1229-35 (11th Cir. 2004) (a zoning ordinance prohibiting churches in a certain district violated RLUIPA’s equal terms provision although it did not impose a substantial burden on plaintiffs); Digrugilliers v. Consolidated City of Indianapolis, No. 07-1358, 2007 WL 3151201 at  (7 th Cir. 2003); Civil Liberties for Urban Believers v. City of Chicago, 342 F.3d 752, 762 (7th Cir. 2003) (“the substantial burden and nondiscrimination provisions are operatively independent of one another”). We now hold as well that a plaintiff challenging a land-use regulation under section 2(b)(1) of RLUIPA does not need to present evidence that the regulation imposes a substantial burden on its religious exercise. 24