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Client Alert: Major Win for Montgomery County: Whiteford Successfully Defends County Against Religious Burden Claim

U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear RLUIPA Claim, Leaving Summary Judgment Ruling and Fourth Circuit Decision Affirming it in Place

On January 9, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal claiming that Montgomery County illegally enforced a land use regulation that prevented a Christian group from constructing a 2000-seat religious facility in Burtonsville, Maryland. The case, Canaan Christian Church, et al. v. Montgomery County, Md, et al., was originally filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in November 2016 by Canaan Christian Church and a group of four property owners who complained that the County refused to extend public sewer and water service to their properties, thus imposing an improper substantial burden on religious exercise under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (known as “RLUIPA”).
 
The District Court granted summary judgment in the County’s favor in September 2020, finding that the County’s conduct did not violate RLUIPA, and the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the District Court’s ruling in March 2022. The Justices’ denial leaves in place the rulings of the District Court and Fourth Circuit.   
 
Click here for an article in The Daily Record providing deeper history on the case.
 
The nearly 6-year effort was led by Howard Feldman, and the Whiteford team included Aaron Casagrande, Harry Johnson, Patrick McKevitt and Kathy McCruden. 

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