Federal court refuses to dismiss Md. church's discrimination claim

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Christiana Holcomb regarding a Maryland judge’s denial on Wednesday of a city’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Redemption Community Church, which the city of Laurel unlawfully discriminated against by adopting a series of unconstitutional zoning amendments to stop the church from using its own property to hold Sunday worship services and serve the underprivileged in the community:

“The city of Laurel can’t discriminate against a church simply because it is religious. With today’s decision, Redemption Community Church is one step closer to worshipping in its own building on the same terms as everyone else. Under the current zoning code, if someone wanted to sing secular songs or host a karaoke bar in downtown Laurel, they could do so; but the moment they want to gather and sing religious songs in a house of worship, they must go through an expensive and burdensome special exemption process. Today, the court agreed that the city treated Redemption Community Church worse than it treated nonreligious organizations. Such discrimination violates the Church’s freedoms under federal law and the Constitution; it also deserves swift and complete correction.”