Austin?Today, the AmericanCenter for Law and Justice (ACLJ) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation of Texas filed a joint friend of the court brief on behalf of Pastor Rick Barr and Philemon Homes, Inc. urging the Court to reverse a decision that sharply limited the reach of Texas's Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The Philemon Homes is a nonprofit faith-based facility designed to house and help rehabilitate low-level offenders who have been released from state custody, and is operated by Pastor Barr in two houses across from Grace Christian Fellowship in Sinton, Texas, over which he presides. Seven months after the Homes began operating in 1998, the City of Sinton enacted an ordinance specifically directed at Pastor Barr and the Homes, forbidding the operation of a correctional or rehabilitation facility within 1000 feet of a church--in this case, Pastor Barr's own church.

"The ordinance violates Texas's Religious Freedom Restoration Act," said Lisa Graybill, Legal Director for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Texas. RFRA was designed to prevent state and local government officials from substantially burdening the free exercise of religion, including religious practices and religiously motivated conduct, without a compelling justification for doing so. "Although the City contends that this restriction is just a generally applicable zoning ordinance, the record shows that the only effect of the ordinance was on Philemon Homes."

Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ explained, "The city's ordinance puts an unfair burden on Pastor Barr's free exercise of religion by forcing him to either permanently shut down Philemon Homes or relocate beyond city limits. The city's ordinance also turns the Texas RFRA on its head - a statute that the Texas legislature intended to provide broad protection for the free exercise of religion by limiting the authority of state and local government officials to apply laws and ordinances in a way that substantially burdens religiously-motivated conduct. We're hopeful the Supreme Court of Texas will correct this injustice."

"We're proud to stand with the ACLJ and Pastor Barr in urging the Texas Supreme Court to uphold the intent of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act," said Graybill. Sekulow added, "We're pleased that the ACLU and the ACLJ were able to join together in this effort to defend religious freedom in Texas."

To view the amicus brief, click here.