Zoning- Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA)

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Edgewood High School of the Sacred Heart, Incorpor v. City of Madison, Wisconsin

Case No.: 23-1175

Officials: Wood, Scudder, and St. Eve, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Zoning- Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA)

A Catholic high school in Madison sued the city and other parties, alleging that the city’s refusal to grant permission for installing lights for nighttime athletic events violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) and the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The school also asserted a vested property right under Wisconsin law.

On appeal the school contended that the city’s actions constituted unequal treatment and imposed a significant burden on its religious practices. However, the court determined that the school, classified as a master plan institution under the city’s Campus-Institutional District ordinance, did not share comparable circumstances with other institutions that had received lighting permits. Additionally, the court ruled that the city’s denial of the permit did not impose a substantial burden on the school’s religious practices as defined by RLUIPA.

Moreover, the court concluded that the school’s Free Exercise claim did not offer additional protections beyond those provided by RLUIPA and thus dismissed it. Finally, the court rejected the school’s assertion of vested rights, citing that the lighting permit application failed to comply with the municipal zoning requirements in force at the time.

Affirmed.

Decided 03/15/24

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