# RLUIPA *United States statute on religious exercise in land use and institutional settings* The **Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act** (**RLUIPA**) is a United States statute. The Supreme Court of the United States upheld it as constitutional in *Cutter v. Wilkinson*, 544 U.S. 709 (2005).[^1] In [[Minnesota]], the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit under RLUIPA against the city of [[St. Anthony Village]] over the city's denial of a permit for an Islamic center.[^2] The Department and the city later resolved the lawsuit.[^3] The project's at-issue record cites that suit in an entry about a 2017 public statement by the mayor of [[St. Cloud]] on a proposed refugee moratorium.[^4] ## What The Court decided *Cutter v. Wilkinson* in 2005; the decision is reported at volume 544 of the *United States Reports*, beginning at page 709.[^1] The project's claim:link catalogue lists the decision under its First Amendment theory (Theory 7, Free Exercise and Free Speech / Compelled Speech) as holding RLUIPA constitutional.[^1] The Department of Justice enforces the statute through litigation, as in the St. Anthony Village action.[^2] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who The parties to the Minnesota action were the U.S. Department of Justice, which brought the suit, and the City of St. Anthony Village, against which it was filed.[^2] The same two parties are named in the Department's release on the resolution of the lawsuit.[^3] ### What The Department of Justice sued the City of St. Anthony Village under RLUIPA over the denial of a permit for an Islamic center.[^2] A later Department release reports that the Department and the city resolved the lawsuit; the project's dossier records the resolution as a settlement.[^3] The record assembled here does not give the filing date, the docket number, or the terms of the resolution.[^2][^3] ## In the at-issue record At-issue entry AI-Stearns-053 (year 2017) records that the mayor of St. Cloud said publicly in 2017 that the proposed refugee moratorium would likely violate the [[Equal Protection Clause]].[^4] The entry cites the St. Anthony Village suit and its settlement as an earlier federal action against a Minnesota local government decision.[^4][^2][^3] The St. Anthony Village action was brought under RLUIPA, a religious-exercise statute, while the mayor's 2017 statement concerned equal protection.[^2][^4] The record here shows that the St. Anthony Village matter ended in a settlement. It does not show a court ruling on the merits of either question.[^3] ## Notes [^1]: Supreme Court of the United States, *Cutter v. Wilkinson*, 544 U.S. 709 (2005) — upholding RLUIPA as constitutional; listed in the project's claim:link catalogue under Theory 7 (First Amendment). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/544/709/ [^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *Justice Department Files Suit Against City of St. Anthony Village Over Denial of Permit for Mosque* (date not given in the pack) — establishes the Department's suit under RLUIPA against the city over the denial of a permit for an Islamic center. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-suit-against-city-st-anthony-village-over-denial-permit-mosque [^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *Justice Department and City of St. Anthony Village Resolve Lawsuit Over Denial of Permit for Islamic Center* (date not given in the pack) — establishes that the Department and the city resolved the lawsuit. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-and-city-st-anthony-village-resolve-lawsuit-over-denial-permit-islamic [^4]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, *Entry AI-Stearns-053* (2017) — records the St. Cloud mayor's 2017 statement and cites the St. Anthony Village suit. The entry's news source is not among the pack's allowed URLs. The URL below is the White House presidential action that the entry lists as its anchor; it is not cited here for the mayor's statement. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/