Civil Rights, Corrections, and 42 USC 1983 Litigation
FBMJ Attorneys Successful in MSD of In Pro Per Case
A big shout out to FBMJ attorneys Brian Whitelaw and Cathy Rodey for the dismissal of a very complicated in pro per Complaint against a major healthcare system in the metro-Detroit area. Briefly, the plaintiff sought treatment for an oral infection while pregnant. Oral Surgery was called, and the patient was admitted and treated. Her child was later born with a genetic disorder, which she blamed o
Local Government Forced to Issue Bonds to Pay RLUIPA Legal Fees
A New York case is the latest example of why local governments should proceed carefully in RLUIPA litigation to avoid costly outcomes. In the case of the Village of Pomona, NY (Pomona), a RLUIPA case that has dragged on for more than a decade – bouncing from the district court to the circuit court of appeals and back – has resulted in the government being responsible for $2.5 million of the pr
SCOTUS Sides with Amish Community on RLUIPA Land Use Claim
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has finally reached the merits of a RLUIPA land use matter – sort of. To the extent the court touched on the RLUIPA questions in Mast v. Fillmore County on July 2nd, the overarching message from at least one justice was clear: RLUIPA protections are broad and local governments can infringe on religious liberties only as a matter of last resort.What
Amish Community Waiting to See if SCOTUS Will Review RLUIPA Claim
It appears as though another term of the Supreme Court will close without the high court evaluating a religious land use claim under The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). An Amish community from Minnesota had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider whether state laws requiring the community to install septic tank systems in their homes violates RLUIPA. However, the Co
Maryland Church Awarded $1.1m in RLUIPA Verdict Over County Environmental Considerations
For more than 20 years now, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) has sought to ensure houses of worship are treated the same as similar secular land uses, regardless of other considerations or laws that might be implicated. A recent case out of Maryland reaffirms this concept, as a Baptist church prevailed in May on its Equal Terms claim and won permission to build its
FBMJ Attorneys Featured Presenters at MSHRM Event
FBMJ attorneys, Saulius Polteraitis and Carlos Escurel, recently presented “Covid Liability and Impact Medical Malpractice Claims” to the Michigan Society of Healthcare Risk Managers (MSHRM) as part of its Webinar series. They were joined by Mike Severyn of ProAssurance on the panel.The presentation covered the anticipated landscape of malpractice claims stemming from COVID, its impact on liti
Federal Government, New Jersey Town Reach Settlement of RLUIPA Case One Day After It Was Filed
In most Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) cases, the plaintiff is a religious organization and the defendant is a local government. However, there are some instances when the religious organization gains the support of a second, powerful plaintiff - the U.S. Department of Justice. That was the case in a RLUIPA matter out of New Jersey, where the presence of the federal
Supreme Court Issues RLUIPA Opinion Related to Prisoners; Still Has Not Reached Land Use Issue
It was just last year that the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, or RLUIPA, celebrated its 20th anniversary. During that time, the U.S. Supreme Court has never issued a substantive opinion on a religious land use matter based on RLUIPA. However, the Supreme Court has now issued an order implicating the other aspect of RLUIPA – institutionalized persons – when it ordered tha
Church Offering Parking Lot To Beachgoers Is Free Exercise of Religion Protected By RLUIPA
A Florida court held that a church, as part of its religious exercise, can offer its parking lot as an access point to a nearby beach to general members of the public. Pass-A-Grille Beach Community Church, just outside St. Petersburg, Florida, argued that the local government’s attempts to restrict the church from allowing such access put a substantial burden on its sincerely held religious beli
Michigan Private Schools’ Motion to Enjoin COVID Regs Denied as Moot; School Seeking to Join Lawsuit as Plaintiff as Case Proceeds
A Michigan federal court judge denied a group of parents and nonpublic schools’ request for a preliminary injunction that sought to enjoin COVID-19 restrictions the state implemented in November that precluded the school from hosting in-person classes. The one-page opinion from Judge Paul Maloney said the motion was rendered moot by the fact that the restrictions complained of expired on Decembe