United States First Circuit

In these consolidated cases, two corporations operated by the governing body of the Jehova's Witnesses brought suit against defendants because they could not access certain gated residential communities in Puerto Rico for door-to-door ministry due to the Controlled Access Law (CAL) which allows municipalities to authorize neighborhood associations to erect gates enclosing public streets. An injunction instituting a remedial scheme requiring that all CAL gates be manned so that they can be opened for door-to-door access upon request (and allowing unmanned gates given specific justification) is affirmed in major part, modified in some aspects, and remanded for further proceedings, where: 1) the current remedial scheme is not immutable, and endorsement rests on the understanding that the district court will undertake periodic reviews of the scheme's operation; and 2) the district court is in the best position to ensure that the remedial scheme remains both equitable and effective in practice and, if not, to tweak it.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/20/2014
• Published 11/20/2014

Judges

• Selya

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel