Abstract
The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act ("RLUIPA') superseded the Religious Freedom Restoration Act ("RFRA'), which the Supreme Court held unconstitutional in its application to states in 1997. A two-pronged law, RLUIPA protects prisoners from unjust impositions to their freedom of worship and also ensures religious institutions may use their property for legitimate worship purposes without burdensome zoning law restrictions. This paper focuses specifically on the latter prong and analyzes RLUIPA in light of the growing Islamophobia in America during the previous twenty-four months. For example, the United States Department of Justice reports "of the eighteen RLUIPA matters involving possible discrimination against Muslims that the Department has monitored since September 11, 2001, eight have been opened since May of2010."- Additionally, this paper repudiates the assertion that RLUIPA is an unconstitutional exercise of Congressional power, and argues instead RL UIPA ensures effective and legal protection from religious discrimination for all Americans.
Recommended Citation
Qasim Rashid,
The Right to Enforce: Why RLUIPA's Land Use Provision Is a Constitutional Federal Enforcement Power,
16
Rich. J. L. & Pub. Int.
267
(2013).
Available at:
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/pilr/vol16/iss2/3