ATLANTA—A federal appeals court ruled in an ADF-funded case Friday that Orange County, Florida, officials cannot require a rabbi to obtain a zoning exemption before he can host a small religious celebration in his house.
“Americans have the right to meet in their homes for prayer or to study religious materials without government interference,” said ADF attorney Joel Oster. “The court today affirmed that freedom by reversing the district court’s poorly reasoned decision that allowed the county to impose a burdensome permit and fee process.”
County officials cited Rabbi Joseph Konikov with code violations on two occasions for holding gatherings of 10 to 15 people in his home to read from the Torah and pray in accordance with Jewish practice and tradition. The district court ruled that Konikov’s rights were not violated under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act because it found no evidence that the county’s requirements affected his religious practice.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit disagreed, observing that “a group meeting with the same frequency as Konikov’s would not violate the code,
so long as religion is not discussed. This is the heart of our discomfort with the enforcement of this provision.” The full text of the court’s opinion can be read at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/KonikovOpinion.pdf.
“Had the district court’s decision been allowed to stand, it would have set a dangerous precedent allowing government officials to place undue burdens upon people of faith who desire to pray and read religious texts together peacefully at someone’s home,” Oster explained. “I think we can safely say the Founding Fathers would not have agreed.”
ADF assisted in funding the case,
Konikov v. Orange County, originally filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. ADF-allied attorney Rick Nelson of the American Liberties Institute argued the case before the Court of Appeals on Dec. 14 of last year.
ADF is America’s largest legal alliance defending religious liberty through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
www.telladf.org