In a case discussed earlier here and here, Congregation Etz Chaim has filed a Petition for Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing En Banc in the Ninth Circuit in The League of Residential Neighborhood Advocates v. City of Los Angeles, No. 06-56211 (Aug. 21, 2007).
In that opinion, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit determined that Los Angeles agreed as part of a settlement of the Congregation’s RLUIPA claim to issue a conditionaluse permit (CUP) to the congregation. Neighbors complained that citycould not override the CUP process in a settlement agreement, whichwould have provided the neighbors notice and hearing under state law. The Ninth Circuit agreed, voiding the settlement agreement unlessthere had been a specific finding that federal law was violated.
The petition argues that the panel got it wrong factually: the settlement did not grant the Congregation a CUP, rather, it was premised on the idea that a CUP was not necessary and the Congregation could use its property for worship without a permit. The petition also argues that the panel’s ruling, by requiring a finding of “actual violation,” undercuts the courts’ and the litigants’ ability to settle lawsuits without having to litigate a case to a judgment, and differs from the law in the Seventh and Third Circuits (i.e., a circuit split).
Download the petition here. The oral arguments in the Panel decision is here (8mb wma)