Legal Protections Aren't Just for One Side

Although there have been a number of religious-freedom disputes regarding Islam, the more highly publicized state vs. religion cases have involved conservative Christians. In Masterpiece Cakeshop the U.S. Supreme Court supported the bakery when it declined to design a wedding cake for a same-sex couple when the bakery was ordered to do so by the State of Colorado. More recently we've posted about Washington State's efforts to break the seal of the confessional and the U.S. Postal Service's refusal to accommodate an employee when he didn't want to work on Sundays for religious reasons.

Christ Episcopal Church members demonstrate against the Toms River eminent domain action (ENS)

Christ Episcopal Church of Toms River, NJ wanted to build a homeless shelter, after which town officials, who opposed construction, sought to seize the property "by eminent domain if necessary, to create new public parkland."

Christ Episcopal Church has two strong lines of defense. The first is that Toms River may be abusing the power of eminent domain. (Fifth Amendment: "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.")

The town’s proposal is “clearly an abusive use of eminent domain,” Ilya Somin, a law professor at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia, told ENS, though it would be up to the courts to decide whether such a move would be illegal. He thinks the church has a strong argument that the officials’ actions really were intended to thwart the congregation’s interest in creating a homeless shelter on the property.

The second line is that the town is infringing upon the church's First Amendment rights ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.") Saner heads in the Toms River government appear to have prevailed for now, as the eminent domain action has been postponed.

After an initial outcry, the vote on the plan was postponed until July 30. More recently, Mayor Dan Rodrick postponed the vote indefinitely, likely because of growing public opposition. He now says the town will go through with the vote only if a poll of town residents he plans to conduct on the subject reveals majority support for it.

This story is also noteworthy because Mayor Rodrick and six of the seven Township Council members are Republicans, the party which generally takes the side of Christian churches in battles with government. To Republicans this is a reminder that the First Amendment protects everyone, friend and foe alike.