By Jim Brown
September 8, 2006

(AgapePress) - A judge says a California county can be sued for barring a Christian education group from building a new school on property it owns in the area. Redwood Christian Schools (RCS) has been waiting for its day in court for years, and now the wait is finally over.

Judge Samuel Conti has ruled that RCS can proceed with its lawsuit against Alameda County. For years, the county has sided with neighbors and others who do not want the Christian group to build its new school near them on its own 45-acre parcel of land. RCS has reported a 25 percent decline in enrollment while the county's efforts have blocked construction of the new campus.

Derek Gaubatz is director of litigation for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing RCS. He says the group's claim against Alameda County is based on the free-exercise clause of the First Amendment and on the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, or RLUIPA. And now that a federal judge has rejected the county's arguments to dismiss the case, RCS intends to press forward with its suit.

The federal law known as RLUIPA, which was signed by President Clinton in 2000, protects religious institutions from discrimination in zoning and landmarking. "We at the Becket Fund, since this law passed, have taken the lead in trying to develop the precedent under this statute around the country," Gaubatz notes, "and this is going to be one of the first cases to actually go to trial on RLUIPA."

The County has long taken the side of residents who argued that a Christian school built in their area would create more traffic and loud noise for its neighbors, the school's attorney notes. For five years, he points out, Alameda County officials have been making these claims and stalling the case.

"Now, finally we've gotten to this stage," Gaubatz says, "where the court looked at the County's arguments and said, 'No. You're wrong. [The plaintiffs] have serious constitutional claims here; they have serious claims under RLUIPA, and this case needs to go to trial.'"

Judge Conti ruled that RCS could proceed to trial on 15 of its 17 most important claims. The Christian education group's lawsuit seeks $30 million in damages for lost tuition income and increased construction costs.

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