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RLUIPA provides a number of important protections for the religious freedom of <br />persons, places of worship, religious schools, and other religious assemblies and institutions, <br />including: <br />• Protection against substantial burdens on religious exercise: Section 2(a) of <br />RLUIPA prohibits the implementation of any land use regulation that imposes a <br />“substantial burden” on the religious exercise of a person or institution except <br />where justified by a “compelling governmental interest” that the government <br />pursues in the least restrictive way possible. <br /> <br />• Protection against unequal treatment for religious assemblies and institutions: <br /> Section 2(b)(1) of RLUIPA provides that religious assemblies and institutions must <br /> be treated at least as well as nonreligious assemblies and institutions. <br />• Protection against religious or denominational discrimination: Section 2(b)(2) of <br />RLUIPA prohibits discrimination “against any assembly or institution on the basis <br />of religion or religious denomination.” <br /> <br />• Protection against total exclusion of religious assemblies: Section 2(b)(3)(A) of <br />RLUIPA provides that governments must not totally exclude religious assemblies <br />from a jurisdiction. <br /> <br />• Protection against unreasonable limitation of religious assemblies: Section <br />2(b)(3)(B) of RLUIPA provides that government must not unreasonably limit <br />“religious assemblies, institutions, or structures within a jurisdiction.” <br /> <br /> RLUIPA’s protections can be enforced by the Department of Justice or by private <br />lawsuits. In the ten years since its passage, RLUIPA has been applied in a wide variety <br />of contexts and has been the subject of substantial litigation in the courts. It is a complex <br />statute, with five separate provisions that protect religious exercise in different but <br />sometimes overlapping ways. In order to assist persons and institutions in understanding <br />their rights under RLUIPA, and to assist municipalities and other government entities in <br />meeting the requirements imposed on them by RLUIPA, the Department of Justice has <br />created this summary and accompanying questions and answers. <br /> <br />Date: September 22, 2010 <br /> <br /> <br />Questions and Answers on the Land-Use Provisions of RLUIPA <br /> <br /> <br />1. Who is protected and what types of activities are covered by RLUIPA? <br /> <br /> <br />RLUIPA protects the religious exercise of “persons,” defined to include religious <br />assemblies and institutions in addition to individuals. RLUIPA has been used, for <br />4-72