United States Second Circuit

Judgment ordering defendant-village to issue a permit to plaintiff to proceed with the expansion of its day school facilities is affirmed primarily as plaintiff's religious exercise was substantially burdened by defendant's arbitrary and unlawful denial of its application and, thus, defendant violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

Appellate Information

• Argued 12/01/2006
• Decided 10/17/2007
• Published 10/17/2007

Judges

• CARDAMONE, Circuit Judge:, Before:  CARDAMONE, and RAGGI, Circuit Judges, and BERMAN, District Judge .

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Derek L. Gaubatz, Washington, D.C. (Anthony R. Picarello, Jr., Lori E. Halstead, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, Washington, D.C., of counsel), filed a brief on behalf of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the Association of Christian Schools International, and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities as Amici Curiae.


• For Appellees:
  
• Joel C. Haims, Morrison & Foerster LLP, New York, N.Y. (Jack C. Auspitz, Morrison & Foerster LLP, New York, NY;  Stanley D. Bernstein, Bernstein Liebhard & Lifshitz, LLP, New York, NY, of counsel), for Plaintiff-Appellee., Kevin J. Plunkett, White Plains, New York (Robert Hermann, Darius P. Chafizadeh, Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP, White Plains, NY;  Joseph C. Messina, Lisa M. Fantino, Law Office of Joseph C. Messina, Mamaroneck, NY, of counsel), for Defendants-Appellants., Sarah E. Light, Assistant United States Attorney, New York, N.Y. (Michael J. Garcia, United States Attorney, Sara L. Shudofsky, Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of New York, New York, NY;  Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General, David K. Flynn, Eric W. Treene, Sarah E. Harrington, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Appellate Section, Washington, D.C., of counsel), for Intervenor-Defendant and Amicus Curiae the United States of America.