{
  "id": "RL32514",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL32514",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 353193,
      "date": "2008-10-20",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T03:05:42.229923",
      "title": "Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA): An Overview",
      "summary": "The constitutional standard by which laws that burden an individual\u2019s First Amendment right to exercise his religion are measured has evolved over the last half-century through U.S. Supreme Court decisions and legislative action by Congress in response to those decisions. After decades of requiring that laws burdening the free exercise of religion be subject to heightened judicial review, the Court reinterpreted that constitutional standard in the 1990 case of Employment Division v. Smith, deciding that the First Amendment provided narrower protection than the Court had previously recognized. In Smith, the Court held that the strict scrutiny standard of review, which required a compelling governmental interest achieved by the least restrictive means, did not apply to neutral laws that applied to society generally. Under Smith, heightened review (sometimes referred to as strict scrutiny) applies only to cases that involve religious claims for exemption in programs that allow for individualized assessments, cases that involve deliberate governmental targeting of religion, or cases in which a Free Exercise claim is joined with another constitutional claim.\nA constitutional standard is a baseline of protection, but Congress may raise that standard to provide heightened protection by statute. After Smith narrowed the protections provided under the Constitution, Congress sought to reinstate the heightened standard of review statutorily. Congress enacted legislation that created a statutory standard of review that would apply, first through the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA; P.L. 103-141), which applied heightened judicial review to all federal, state, and local government actions. In the 1997 case of City of Boerne v. Flores, the Court struck down as unconstitutional portions of RFRA that applied to state and local government actions. Congress responded later through the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA; P.L. 106-274), which applies heightened review to state and local government actions in limited types of cases.\nThe heightened standard of review provided by RLUIPA applies to state and local government actions that (1) restrict religious exercise through zoning laws, or (2) restrict the religious exercise of institutionalized persons. In order to avoid federal interference with state governments, which had proved fatal to portions of RFRA, Congress further limited the application of heightened review provided by RLUIPA to certain instances within these two categories of state and local action. The heightened standard of review under RLUIPA therefore applies only in (1) instances in which Congress exercises power under the Spending Clause, Commerce Clause, or section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, and (2) instances in land use cases in which decisions are made based on a case-by-case assessment of particular properties.\nSince its enactment in 2000, RLUIPA has been challenged several times in federal court. Most courts have upheld RLUIPA as constitutional under the Spending Clause, Commerce Clause, section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Establishment Clause. This report provides background on RFRA and discusses the provisions of RLUIPA and its related case law.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "encoding": "utf-8",
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL32514",
          "sha1": "9993a4fda7f25abdde1c228950fc8b9dcf3e1194",
          "filename": "files/20081020_RL32514_9993a4fda7f25abdde1c228950fc8b9dcf3e1194.html",
          "images": null
        },
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL32514",
          "sha1": "169c839c09c9a59918e8e39e7ccdee20269d3af6",
          "filename": "files/20081020_RL32514_169c839c09c9a59918e8e39e7ccdee20269d3af6.pdf",
          "images": null
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "American Law",
    "Constitutional Questions"
  ]
}