The Mecca Center encourages you to attend “Building Faith: Protecting Religious Freedom Through Land Use Laws” on September 25 from 6:30pm to 8pm at John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Room 1200. The John Marshall Law School, Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois are presenting the program and will address how federal law – in particular, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) – provides vital protections for faith communities in land use and zoning processes. Light refreshments will be served. RSVP at buildingfaith.eventbrite.com.

In recent years, a growing number of communities of faith all across the country, and including here in the greater Chicago area, have faced obstacles when seeking to build houses of worship, religious schools, cemeteries, and similar structures. Our panelists will also discuss how religious communities have successfully protected themselves from these types of discriminatory practices and processes.

PANELISTS

Juvaria Khan, Muslim Advocates

John Mauck, Mauck & Baker, LLC

Michael Kelly, US Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Illinois

Professor Andrew Koppelman, Northwestern School of Law

Pastor Nathan Carter, Immanuel Baptist Church

Moderated by Ryan Lee, U.S. Department of Justice, Housing and Civil Enforcement Section, Civil Rights Division