Connecticut Supreme Court Reaches the Right RLUIPA Result
So argues Marci Hamilton, an outspoken RLUIPA critic, in this Findlaw commentary. She begins:
The Connecticut Supreme Court recently decided an important religious land use case. The case, Cambodian Buddhist Society of Conn. v. Planning and Zoning Comm’n of the Town of Newtown, addressed what has become an increasingly serious problem in the era of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act: an ambitious religious project wanting to locate its facilities in a residential neighborhood.
The decision is most remarkable for its solid common sense. Two of the most contentious issues in RLUIPA cases have been as follows: First, what land use laws are "individualized assessments"? This question is significant because the terms of the statute require that an extremely demanding legal test — strict scrutiny - be applied to individualized assessments. Second, and relatedly, do special exception and special permit requirements inherently trigger RLUIPA’s strict scrutiny requirement? . . .