Publications & Events

10/24/2017: Workshop: S&A attorneys provide guidance on religious land use rights 02/28/2017: Robert Greene's letter to the editor regarding Jackson, N.J.'s dormitory ban law 02/14/2017: Robin N. Pick joins S&A's legal team 12/07/2016: Wall Street Journal reports on S&A Connecticut case 07/22/2016: S&A invited to White House event "Combating Religious Discrimination Today" 07/21/2016: United States Justice Department's August 2016 "Religious Freedom in Focus" discusses lawsuit against Bensalem Twp, Pa. 06/30/2016: NJ.com RLUIPA article highlights four S&A clients 05/06/2016: Baltimore Jewish Times features S&A client Ariel Jewish Center and Synagogue's efforts to build in Baltimore County 02/11/2016: Conservative Review discusses RLUIPA, "a younger law that works just as hard on the religious freedom front for almost none of the credit" 01/13/2016: Visit S&G's new Twitter resource: RLUIPALaw 02/06/2015: 2015 GW Religious Freedom Moot Court Competition 09/30/2014: S&G submits opinion letter to ANC regarding historic landmark regulation of St. Thomas church 08/16/2014: RLUIPA law review article by S&G attorneys selected for inclusion in Thomson Reuters' Zoning and Planning Law Handbook, 2014 edition 03/12/2014: S&G becomes a Cooperating Organization with the PBS "God In America" series Defending Religious Liberty in the 21st Century 03/12/2014: Storzer & Greene attorneys co-author article on RLUIPA's "Nondiscrimination" provision 02/07/2014: 2014 GW National Religious Freedom Moot Court Competition 04/16/2012: On April 16, Roman P. Storzer joined the Department of Justice's Special Counsel for Religious Discrimination Eric Treene to speak at the University of Richmond's Journal of Law and the Public Interest symposium on RLUIPA 02/11/2012: Roman Storzer will speak at UCLA symposium “Local Agencies on the Cutting Edge : Emerging Challenges to Local Land Use Authority” 02/11/2012: Roman Storzer served as a judge in the semi-final round for the 2012 GW National Religious Freedom Moot Court Competition, hosted by the George Washington University Law School 03/04/2011: Robert Greene will serve as a judge for the American Bar Association Law Student Division National Appellate Advocacy Competition at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York 02/28/2011: Christianity Today reports on Illinois City Council action to ban churches from building in commercial areas 02/18/2011: Hartford Courant reports on the Chabad Lubavich of Litchfield County’s lawsuit against the Borough of Litchfield 02/05/2011: Roman Storzer joined the George Washington University Law School’s 5th Annual National Religious Freedom Moot Court Competition 10/22/2010: Read the United States Department of Justice’s ”Report on the Tenth Anniversary of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act” 10/12/2010: Robert Greene to speak on RLUIPA issues at the International Municipal Lawyers Association's 2010 Annual Conference in New Orleans. 09/21/2010: Roman Storzer joined several other panelists to discuss the occasion of RLUIPA’s 10th anniversary at the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy’s “RLUIPA 10 Years Later,” held in the Rayburn House Office Building 02/01/2010: S&G case to be subject of Harvard Pluralism Project documentary 11/17/2009: U.S. News & World Report quotes Storzer in mosque seizure story 09/22/2009: Robert Greene represents the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends at the National Council of the Churches of Christ Board of Governors Meeting 04/30/2009: Roman Storzer will join other religious freedom experts as a judge in the 2009 National Religious Freedom Moot Court on February 6. 04/30/2009: RLUIPA Reader: Religious Land Uses, Zoning, and the Courts available for pre-order 04/17/2009: S&G Provides RLUIPA Training to Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County 04/13/2009: Robert Greene speaks at Princeton Theological Seminary on the origins of free exercise principles in the colonial era 03/12/2009: American Bar Association: The RLUIPA Reader: Religious Land Uses, Zoning, and the Courts.” 11/13/2008: Robert Greene visits Capitol Hill on behalf of Quaker Committee 10/10/2008: Robert Greene named to National Religious Campaign Against Torture 10/10/2008: Robert Greene will join Prof. Marci Hamilton and several others in addressing the New Jersey State League of Municipalities 10/01/2008: Roman Storzer will be speaking at the Property Rights Foundation of America’s twelfth annual National Conference on Private Property Rights 06/21/2008: S&G quoted on Danbury, CT church denial 04/01/2008: Robert Greene to speak on exercise of eminent domain over church property 03/18/2008: Roman Storzer to testify before the Rockland County legislature regarding a resolution calling upon Congress to review RLUIPA 03/02/2008: The Washington Post reports on a Calvert County church's legal victory 02/01/2008: Roman Storzer will participate as a judge in the 2008 National Religious Freedom Moot Court held at George Washington University 10/10/2007: November RLUIPA Conference 08/08/2007: Journal News editorial discussing the firm 06/20/2007: Robert Greene to speak to New Jersey bar on religion and land use 05/18/2007: Roman Storzer addressed the American Bar Association's Section of State and Local Government Law 08/01/2006: Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals hands down resounding RLUIPA victory 06/07/2006: Religious school successfully defends against Title VII lawsuit 05/12/2006: Mr. Storzer speaks at Land Use Institute conference 04/25/2006: Religious organizations and commercial activity 07/01/2001: The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000: A Constitutional Response to Unconstitutional Zoning Practices

09/30/2014: S&G submits opinion letter to ANC regarding historic landmark regulation of St. Thomas church

In a letter to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2B of the District of Columbia, S&G attorneys write:

[L]ocal opponents’ desire to have church ruins 'preserved in their original state, context and place' cannot outweigh the fundamental free exercise rights of a house of worship. Forcing a church to maintain, at its own expense and its own detriment, the remnants of a religious structure based on the desires of a few who wish only to benefit from—but not support the costs of—such structure, irrespective of the church’s needs, is neither reasonable nor permitted under the law.

The ANC 2B then adopted a resolution stating in part

Whereas, the ANC in prior church construction or renovation projects has had concerns that the HPRB does not take into account applicable constitutional and federal law–including the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Person Act (RLUIPA)–and that these federal laws supersede the HPRB’s own regulations and impose further limitations the HPRB’s authority.

Therefore, be it RESOLVED that ANC 2B does not object to the concept and massing of the religious component of the project and strongly urges the HPRB to take seriously its duty to follow applicable federal law–including RFRA and RLUIPA–by not imposing undue burdens on the use of this property for religious purposes;

Read our opinion letter here and the ANC's Resolution here.