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Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Court Dismisses Religious Meditation House Lawsuit


RLUIPA Defense recently reported on a case decided by the Northern District of Illinois dismissing a lawsuit filed by a meditation center against Lake County, Illinois.  MAUM Meditation House of Truth claims that the county violated its First Amendment right to free exercise, its equal protection and due process rights, as well as the Illinois RFRA by mandating certain building code improvements for MAUM's proposed conversion of a portion of a home into a meditation center.

The county had filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that MAUM failed to exhaust its administrative remedies under state law before filing the federal lawsuit.  The District Court agreed, and dismissed the case for failure to exhaust administrative remedies and for inadequate pleading. The court also rejected MAUM's argument that the county's application of the building code was a "content-based" regulation, characterizing it as "nonsensical."  

You can read more about the case on RLUIPA Defense here.

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