Ohio Christian School’s Land Use Claims Reinstated

A Christian organization’s claims against Arlington, Ohio—which refused to rezone an office building for use as a religious school—were reinstated May 18 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Tree of Life Christian Schs. v. City of Upper Arlington, 2016 BL 157884, 6th Cir., 14-3469, 5/18/16).

Whether the government treated the school differently than a nonreligious institution is a factual—not legal—question, so the district court’s summary judgment for the city was inappropriate, Judge Danny J. Boggs’s majority opinion said.

The procedural ruling leaves as an open question in the Sixth Circuit what approach should be ...