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California City Denies Chinese-American Church Permit to Conduct Religious Services on Church Property

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October 24, 2024

News Release
 For Immediate Release: 10.24.24
Contact: John Manning, media@firstliberty.org
Direct: 972-941-4453

California City Denies Chinese-American Church Permit to Conduct Religious Services on Church Property

City denies permit after church purchases property for its congregation.

Santa Ana, CA—Today, First Liberty Institute and the law firm O’Melveny & Myers LLP sent a letter demanding the City of Santa Ana (CA) Planning and Building Agency grant Anchor Stone Christian Church’s Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to use church property to conduct religious services.

You can read the letter here.

“It is indisputable that the City has severely burdened Anchor Stone’s ability to engage in religious exercise,” said Jeremy Dys, Senior Counsel at First Liberty Institute. “The Constitution and federal law forbid government officials from intimidating and preventing churches from using their property as place to exercise their religious beliefs.”

“Under federal law, the City of Santa Ana must treat religious land uses the same as any other,” said Timothy Durst, partner at O’Melveny & Myers. “The city’s repeated efforts to prevent churches and religious institutions from engaging in their religious missions cannot continue.”

Anchor Stone is a Chinese-American Christian church that endeavors to spread the gospel to other first-generation Chinese-Americans in Santa Ana and throughout Orange County. Since its inception in 2018, the church has grown from an in-home prayer group to a larger congregation needing additional space. With assurance from the city that there would be no obstacles for using the property they intended to purchase for religious assembly, they proceeded with the purchase. It was only after closing on the property that the city rejected Anchor Stone’s CUP. Since the denial, the property has sat vacant for two years and the church has been unable to renovate or hold worship services in it.

In the letter, attorneys state: “The City’s denial of Anchor Stone’s CUP application is unlawful both under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment as well as the RLUIPA.  Under Supreme Court precedent, a plaintiff can prove a free exercise violation “by showing that a government entity has burdened his sincere religious practice pursuant to a policy that is not ‘neutral’ or ‘generally applicable.’”  Kennedy v. Bremerton Sch. Dist.”

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About First Liberty Institute
First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.
To arrange an interview, contact John Manning at media@firstliberty.org or by calling 972-941-4453.

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